You don't know how beautiful you are
by Mathildis
Summary: What makes the Monalisa so beautiful?Is it her beauty? The mystery of her smile? Or simply what she represents? A question one of the turtles better find the anwser soon,before someone else takes her away.And the thief may not just be one of the brothers
1. Chapter 1:Light in the Dark, danger

**Author's little note**: this is my first attempt at writting a fanfiction so please respect it. It's a Mona Lisa/Raph story, written by a fan, for the fans. Even though there will be references to the TMNT FF and TMNT BTTS seasons, I had the 2003 cartoon in mind when i wrote this story. I'll makefoot notes anyway, so you won't be lost ! I think the hardest part was to find how they would meet. Now, without waiting any further, let's get on to the story.

* * *

Chapter 1: Danger

It was hunger that woke her up.

Mona Lisa opened her eyes and stretched her limbs to get rid of the pain. Once again she had slept on the hard ground of the sewers, and her back was killing her. But it was better than the night before, when she had to sleep outside and nearly froze to death. Just because of a group of junkies decided to dog guard the manhole. Gosh, she missed her room. A heated room with wall-to-wall carpet on the floor, curtains on the windows and a comfy bed with clean sheets.

She shook her head. No, no more thinking about home she told herself. Best to be focused on the present. Giving her limbs one final stretch, she sat and reached for her bag.

A piece of almost not stale bread, two apples and a bottle of water was all she had left. But she had seen worse. A few months in the streets disciplined her body to the tough life of the homeless, and sometimes, she could go a whole week without eating. But Mona Lisa also suspected her mutated body to have something to do with it. She vaguely remembered a science class back in elementary school where her teacher told her that animals would stock up food in their bodies for winter. Maybe her body suspected that Mona Lisa was facing a particular harsh winter and relied on her "stock" rather than real food.

Biting into an apple, Mona Lisa mentally made a to-do list; first, make sure that it was almost night time before going out. Then, dig in the trashcans for possible food. Finally, make sure to return here before 3am, before those guys show up again. Just thinking about it was enough to make her feel uneasy.

"Stupid punks," she growled between her teeth, "they didn't have to scream like that."

But what other reaction could one have when facing a green, 5.2 feet mutant lizard? Not to mention that her tail wasn't really helping. And that it was ages since she took a bath. Any normal human being would have been scared to death.

_No. Not everyone_.

There was this girl.

_What was her name again? Ariel ? April ? Something like that… _

She didn't scream when she saw Mona Lisa. She just looked surprised. Yeah, that was it; surprised. But not terrified, like the others. She treated Mona Lisa kindly. She talked with her, gave her a warm coat, even offered her to stay for the night. How long has it been since she met someone like that?

Mona Lisa often wondered if the ginger-haired woman was sincere, or if she did all this out of pity. Bit of both perhaps. Or maybe she was just being nosey.

_Shut up Mona Lisa. She was nice to you, and you're not really returning the favor. You're becoming mean girl_.

She chuckled.

_That's what mom and dad always told me; "you're becoming mean, Mona Lisa. Where did learn to behave like that? Is it at school? I'm warning you young lady: keep going like this and you'll be sorry." That's funny. A total stranger helped me when my family wouldn't, and __I'M__ the one who's mean. _

Before she could react, tears began to stroll down her face. It always happened when she thought about her family.

_Do they miss me now I'm gone? Do they think about me sometimes? Mom…dad…Jason…_

The tears were coming down now. Like a river. Hard. Uncontrollable. Mona Lisa put her head on knees and allowed herself to cry for once.

Ignoring her spleen, a passing rat approached her. Probably hoping to get a bit of her breakfast. But just as she handed the apple core, she froze. The rat had stopped. It lifted its head up. Focused. Worried. The rat fled, giving up the food she was offering.

For Mona Lisa, there was only one instinct stronger than eating: to survive.

_Danger_.

That's all she could think about. The rat had sensed it. Someone was coming.

_They're back._


	2. Chapter 2: Color in the Dark, blood

**Author's little note: **I apologize for the delay between the two chapters (stupid college exams ") and i'll make sure there won't be such a long time between chap 2 and 3. I also wish to thank those who visited, read and commented my fanfiction, it really is important for the author to know her work is appreciated. Makes me want to continue ! Now, without further waiting,

* * *

Chapter 2: Color in the dark, blood

Mona Lisa jumped on her feet and placed her hands on the ground. If there was a sense she could use right now it was her touch. Her mutated body was very sensitive to vibrations. Rather than hearing, she could _feel_ people approaching.

Mona Lisa closed her eyes and focused on the waves she was receiving. The vibrations were too strong for a single man, but too weak for a group. It was a troop. Probably six or seven men. Mona Lisa bit her lip. Noticing them just now meant they were getting close. Mona Lisa guessed the predators were only 50 meters away. But she could still make it.

They were moving toward her, but they were slow. They either were very careful or carrying an extra load.

_I feel their stance is unbalanced. As if they were insisting on one leg. They're carrying something heavy on their shoulders. _

Mona Lisa reopened her eyes. They had weapons. It would make her escape more difficult. Whatever weapons they carried today, it was not what they usually used. Swords and kunai she could fight, she already taught her hunters that her tail could easily disarm and break a few jaws, but if they had guns, it was another story.

No one is dumb enough to fight a seven men armed troop with a muscular whip as its only weapon.

_Hey! What's this?_

She felt new vibrations. Her followers were suddenly more numerous, she detected that they were five more.

_What the …? _

The waves were growing chaotic. Instead of advancing together, Mona Lisa felt that the hunters were breaking the lines. They had stopped advancing, and the five new waves she detected were circling them. Mona Lisa heard the sound of clashing metal in the distance. They were fighting.

* * *

"COWABUNGA!!!!"

The tech ninjas turned their heads just in time to see an orange-clad turtle jump on them. Wooden nunchakus twirled around and knocked two ninjas on the ground. Before they could react, three other turtles and a man with a white hockey mask joined the fight. A combo of metal and wood hit the enemies' weapons, forcing more of them to drop their guns.  
But they were trained soldiers too, ready to retaliate. Those who were disarmed took out their sabers and engaged the fight.

There was a whistling wind followed by a loud crack. A bö staff smashed the neck of the opponent, making him do a few whirl before he landed on the ground. His head formed an abnormal angle.  
One of the tech ninjas opened fire. Quickly dodging the shots, the blue-clad turtle skillfully advanced toward the gunman and slashed the end of the cannon with his katanas.  
With a roar, the red bandana turtle threw himself on his enemy. His sais effortlessly slashed the enemy's throat, freeing a spray of blood.  
Imitating his friends, the white hockey masked man took two bats out of his bag and attacked the last tech ninja. When the ninja tried to stab him, the man caught the saber between his metal bats. The hammer impact shattered the saber into pieces.

The tech ninjas had to make a decision. They were outnumbered, wounded and tired because of their long search in the sewers. The turtles and their ally on the other hand were in great form and could still fight for hours. Becoming invisible would not be of any help here; the sand, the water, the steam, the whole environment would reveal their presence. They had to retreat.

"Come back, you cowards! Hey Raph! They're getting away!" the man shouted as they were fleeing.

"Let them go Casey," said Raphael as he was cleaning his sais on the enemy's uniform, "they wouldn't stand a chance anyway."

"Yup! That's what happens when super Mikey the Turtle Titan takes the enemy by surprise!"

"And when you have an alarm system that triggers if enemies enter the sewers," the turtle with the purple bandana added as he put his bö staff back in place.

"Yeah Don, we all know this brilliantly conceived alarm system is the child brain of that genius of yours. I'm just teasing you. Right Leo? Tell Donnie I'm just teasing him. "

But Leo didn't seem to hear his brother's question. He was taking a close look at a dead body, as if he was looking for something.

"I wonder what this is all about; it's the third time in less than a week that we encounter a ninja tech patrol. Do you think Karai is hunting us down again?" He asked his brothers.

"We left this part of the sewers a long time ago. That bitch ought to know it since it was her soldiers who kicked us out."

Michelangelo glanced at his red brother and thought he was lucky Master Splinter did not hear him use such words.  
"You think she's after Leatherhead?"

The purple-clad turtle shook his head in disbelief.  
"I don't think she even knows Leatherhead exists. I'm not even sure these tech foot ninjas were looking for us at all."

Donatello grabbed a tech ninja weapon.

"It's not their regular weapon. They usually fight with swords, shurikens, kunai… you know, traditional weapons. But these cannons are equipped with an adjustable paralyzing beam, ranging from static shock to full-power paralyzing blast."

"Whatever they were looking for, they're hunting big" Raphael concluded.

Leo rose to his feet.

"Let's go back to the lair and warn Master Splinter. He may have a clue about what's going on."

Donatello packed the cannon and secured it on Raphael's back while two others closed their enemies' eyes and recited the prayer for the warriors who fell in battle. When the last prayer was finished, all five of them turned their backs on the battle and prepared to head for the lair.

That's when they heard it.

"LOOK OUT!"

* * *

Making sure she was out of still out of sight, Mona Lisa cautiously approached the place of the fight. The battle did not last very long, only a couple of minutes. She knows she should have used that extra time to run away, but she also wants to know who defeated those who followed her so easily.

Carefully hidden in the shadows, Mona Lisa placed her hand on a pipeline and followed the vibrations to their source. The enemies were gone, she could feel it. But the others did not leave yet. She stopped her progression as soon as the voices reached her ears. She was right, there were five of them. Masculine. Young. But she couldn't see them.

Inside Mona Lisa's head, survival and curiosity were in open clash.  
_Run!  
__I just want to have a quick look.  
__What for? So they can catch you? Get out of here!_

A movement in the shadows caught her attention. She was not the only one hiding.

Mona Lisa spotted a tech ninja only a couple of feet ahead of her, his back turned on the young woman. For the time being, he was unaware of her presence, too focused on taking aim. Mona Lisa felt as if her entire body had been plunged into frozen water; he wasn't aiming at her, he was about to open fire on THEM.  
Before her brain could order her to flee, Mona Lisa jumped on the enemy and yelled:

"LOOK OUT!"

* * *

A shot immedialty followed the scream. The turtles rushed to where the sound came from, only to discover a fainted tech ninja with a broken cannon. Leonardo carefully approached the incounscious ninja and checked his pulse.  
"He's not dead. But his pulse is slowing down, as if he used is own weapon against him."

"Looks like someone forgot to read the instruction manual before using his weapon," joked Casey

"More like, looks like someone injected a tranquillizer on the guy. He has a mark on his shoulder. Take a look Don."

Donatello sat next to his blue-clad brother and examined the tech ninja.  
" Indeed. The mark on his shoulder seem to confirm your theory Leo. But I wonder what kind of mark is that." He examined the mark more closely, "Whatever hit him, it's neither a needle nor a dart."

"Doesn't matter. What matters is that someone saved our shells back there, and got shot for it!"

"Don't worry Raph" Donny said with a little smile, "Whoever saved our shells was kind enough to do it right under the nose of a hidden camera."

* * *

Back to the lair, Donatello was watching the surveillance tape. Around him, his brothers, his master, and his two friends Casey and April were patiently waiting for the mysterious face to appear on the screen. Even Mikey was quiet for once. Until finally, the last tech ninja hid and prepared his weapon. Seven pairs of eyes stared at the form who attacked the enemy ninja; it charged at the enemy, and received a fireshot in the arm. A flash of pain appered on its face. Ignoring the wound, the form attacked and jumped on the enemy to inject the tranquillizer. When the tech ninja fell on the ground, the form quickly got back to its feet, and using its valid arm, it slammed the cannon against the wall. Massaging its wounded arm, the form glanced in one direction, and ran out of the camera range. Two seconds later, the turtles and Casey were appearing on the screen.  
It was April who spoke first

"Don, go back a bit, let me see the fight again…Oh my God…It's her! Casey look, it's her! She's back!"

"Who?"inquired Master Splinter

"There is something Casey and I need to tell you guys."

* * *

Meanwhile, Mona Lisa was making a run for it.  
_Flee to the sea... Keep going girl, flee to the sea. They can't catch you there_.

* * *

"WHAT? A FEMALE MUTANT?"

Everyone, including Master Splinter, shout out of surprise. Only Casey didn't say a word.

"That's right. I met her like, more than a year ago, right after you guys disappeared in fact. I was, hum... I invited Casey over for dinner (she blushed a bit) but my dish was too hot so I placed it on the window to cool it down. No sooner had I closed the window and turned away that I heard a noise. I thought Casey was already here, or that it was you who came back and dropped by to say hi. But imagine my susprise when I discovered **her, **eating the dish. The poor girl was apparently starving."

April paused a moment. She was so shocked at the time she forgot to be angry. She remembered the young female mutant was just as surprised as her. Casey continued the story.

"When I arrived later that evening, April had managed to invite the young girl in. Gosh, you should have seen her, she looked terrified. April spent a great deal of time reassuring her."

"In what way?" Don asked

"We told her that she was not the only one of her kind. That we had friends like her. We wanted her to meet you guys, so I invited her to stay over for the night. But she was gone the following morning. All she left was a note _'Thank you for your kindness_.' And then we never heard from her again. I had no idea she was still in New York." April whispered the last words, apparently relieved to finally have some news.

"What did you not tell us about this sooner ? I mean a female mutant in New York? It's way cooler than the arrival of Superman on planet Earth! Ow !!"  
Leonardo slapped Michelangelo's head, forcing him to shut up and listen to Casey's answer.

"You guys were gone for more than a year. And when you came back, there were more important things at stake, so I totally forgot about this incident."

Everyone was quiet for a minute. It was true that the events rushed; their return from the futur, the attack in the time tunnel, the long search for Master Splinter in cyber space, there was no way they could focus on something else. Master Splinter was more important than everything.  
It was he who broke the silence.

"My sons, if our friends are correct than we must act quickly. This young lady is hurt, and obviously she has no one to turn to. Which makes her the perfect target for the Foot. Do not lure yourself, it is only a question of time before they start hunting her down again. We must find her before they do. And I will **not **let the savior of my sons fell in the hands of my enemies. Miss O'Neil, Mr. Jones, do you by any chance know the name of this young lady?"

April approved.

"She said her name was Mona Lisa."


	3. Chapter 3: Search in the Dark, dust

**Author's little note**: Chapter 4 is almost ready ! You get 2 in 1

* * *

Chapter 3: Search in the dark, dust

Splinter had always enjoyed meditation. Alone or with his sons, he liked nothing more than sit in his quarters and let the silence clear his mind of worries. He meditated to find inner peace, to seek guidance, to think, or simply, as he and his sons gained in age, to relax. He knew he was old for a rat, and after long years of existence he thought he had seen everything. And yet, it seems life still had a few surprises in store for his family and him.

A female mutant. Even he had troubles imagining it. How was such a thing possible in the first place? Was it the result of another mutation by the Utroms? Was more than one tube of mutagenic liquid lost 20 years ago? But what if the Utroms had nothing to do with it? What if this mutant came from somewhere else? She could be an enemy's agent. But then again, where did she come from? Hun despised mutants and always relied on men and guns. As for Bishop, his hatred for mutants and aliens alike were boundless, but it was not Bishop's agents who were hunting the girl down. It was Karai's, and even if he didn't like the young woman very much, Splinter couldn't imagine Karai sending ninjas to take down her enemies. She killed them herself.

_So many questions without answers_, Splinter sighted. Answers meditation could not provide. All he could do was to wait for his sons to return to the lair and let him know if the search was progressing.

_Tap tap tap_

Speaking of the devil…

"Enter my son"

After twenty years as a father, Splinter learnt to recognize his sons' paces a long time ago. He opened his eyes as his eldest son stepped in. Splinter noticed the bags under the blue-clad turtle and understood that, despite his advice, Leonardo did not rest at all. And if he didn't, there was a good chance none of his brothers did: all four of them spent the entire night searching the sewers. But for once, his sons' whereabouts were the last of Splinter's worries. The old rat thus remained silent as Leonardo knelt before him.

"So?"

"Nothing. We followed her tracks for a while until we arrived at a crossroads. We think she continued in the water from there so we split with Raph and went on our own separate ways. Mine was a dead end so I came back here. I hope Raph was luckier than me."

"And the others?"

"Donatello is exploring with Mikey. He's trying to determine possible choices of paths she could have taken. Casey and April are patrolling the streets, even though Don thinks there's very little chance she would adventure outside. But Master Splinter, what are you going to do once we find her?"

"My son, when one saves your family from certain death, the least we can do is to thank that person. Don't you agree?"

"Yes Master."

"And how can I express my gratitude if that person is not here?"

"Yes Master."

"And since she has nowhere to go, I was thinking of inviting her to stay with us."

"Yes Master. What?!"

"If she agrees of course."

Leonardo was speechless. Was he serious? It was not like master Splinter to say things he did not mean, and Leo knew better than to question his master but, come on, welcoming a total stranger?

_But if you think back, it's not like we never did it before. We took April in after we recued her from Baxter's robots when we barely knew her, and she stayed with us after her apartment was destroyed too. And Leatherhead stayed here as well before he found a new place so… _

"But we can deal with that question later my son. Come. I believe your brothers are back. "

Splinter stood up, carefully took his cane and slowly walked out his office with Leonardo at his sides.

Master Splinter was right. Everyone, sons and friends, was home. They all looked tired, searching New York sewers all day and night long was no walk the park. But they're young, they'll be bouncing again in no time Master Splinter thought as Leo joined them.

For the time being, Splinter was just watching his children: Donatello was noting on a map all the places where he and his brothers had already looked, April and Casey were telling Leo how their outside search ended up in failure, Michelangelo was making coffee and chocolate for everyone, and Raphael…

"What is this Raphael?"

Sitting in a kitchen chair, Raphael was staring at what once was a sport bag. Rather small for a sport bag, and apparently well-filled, it was dirty, with patches of black dirt covering most of the light pink fabric. The light grey handles were turning into a dirty grey, but you could still see something was embroidered. Raphael leaned forward to take a closer look, two letters were embroidered on the right handle_: M.L_

Six pairs of curious eyes examined the sport bag. They all remained silent, until Raphael reached for the bag, put it on his lap, and opened it. One by one, he pulled out its content:

One, two, three hair ribbons. All pink, all in a different shade of pink. A pocket mirror, with the glass on one side, and a bright pink and silver back on the other side. A travelling hairbrush, in the same color as the mirror.

Raphael couldn't help but imagine this girl, always on the move, always running, but always finding time to do her hair. Someone who still cared about her appearance when her life was at stake could only be human. At some point. He wondered if she was pretty.

One, two, three, four old newspapers. The oldest one was published 18 months ago, and the most recent dated back to 3 months ago. Keeping old newspapers was stupid Raphael thought. He nonetheless carefully placed them next to the beauty items.

Food. If you could qualify stale bread and something so small it would be pure exaggeration to label it "apple" some food. But as Donny pointed it out "beggars can't be choosers ya know."

Finally, Raphael's hands pulled out a coat. He frowned. For some reason, that coat looked strangely familiar to him. He was sure he already saw someone wearing that coat before. Only last time, it was on…

"Case?" Raphael asked without even turning around

"Yeah that's my winter coat all right."

"She stole it?"

"No Leo, I gave it to her. Her green skin was turning blue from the cold so I gave it to her. I'm glad she kept it, it means it was useful. Where did you find this bag anyway?"

"In the 'fume room' after Leo and I went on separate ways. Ya know the place where the conduits all exhale fume."

"That place with the awful stench?"

Raphael nodded at his blue brother. He too would have turned around and leave the room if this pink bag had not caught his eye.

"That would explain the smell. Oh no wait, that's Raph natural body odor! "

"Mikey…"

Leonardo quickly interrupted his brothers.

"Mikey is right, this place stinks like hell. Why would she sleep there?"

Raphael shrugged his shoulders.

"Because it's warm I guess."

"Of Course! We have to think like her. She went there to sleep in a warm place, and Casey's coat is quite thick. We can therefore assume she's sensitive to the cold, like us. And we don't do so well in the cold. "

Don rushed to where he left his map. Seizing another pen, he began rechecking the possible locations.

"We need to locate a place where one of us would go if we were wounded and threatened by hypothermia."

"Yes my son, but perhaps not in the immediate moment."

Splinter examined the small group around the kitchen table.

"You all seem in the need of a good night rest. If that girl left the sewers, there is no use to continue to search underground. We shall continue in a couple of hours. You do not need to push yourself so much," he added before someone could interrupt him, "You look as if you are about to collapse any minute now."

* * *

It bothered her to admit it, but Master Splinter was right: she was a mess. April glanced at the window and had just realized how tired she really was. As a human girl, she was less strong than Casey and her turtle friends, physically speaking. But still, she hated it when someone reminded her that. She was tired, hungry and in a bad mood. Thank God t was Sunday, she didn't have to open the shop today. Right now, all she wanted was to take a long hot shower, eat something (and to hell with her diet) and sleep twelve hours straight.

_Five more minutes_, she told herself, _just five more minutes_. _If Casey manages to find the key to my apartment in that pocket of his._

Oh well, she was too tired to search for her own key anyway.

"Got it Babe!" Casey finally pulled the key of his pocket and opened the door. "Now, why don't you go and take a shower while I order us something to eat? What would you like?"

April smiled. Casey could have stayed at the lair with Raphael but he decided to come with her so she wouldn't feel left out. He was sweet.

"I could go for a pizza, as a reward for a night patrolling the city. What do you say? Mm? Casey? Casey, did you hear me?"

But Casey was silent. Instead, he pointed out something in the apartment. April followed his gaze: someone had forced the kitchen window open. The couple looked at each other for a few seconds until a sound caught their attention. Casey stepped in.

"Who's there? Show yourself!"

A voice emerged from the back of the living room.

"Miss April? Mr. Jones? "

"Mona Lisa?"


	4. Chapter 4: Welcome to our home

Chapter 4: lantern in the dark, welcome to our home

The light revealed it was Mona Lisa. She was thinner than the last time they saw her and a whole lot paler too, but it was her.

In normal times, April would have laughed in a situation like this. They've been looking for Mona Lisa in the sewers for the past two days while she was HERE. Without thinking, April rushed to her side.

"Mona Lisa? Where have you been all this time? (She palpated the green arms) You're freezing, and you're wet! What happened?"

"I jumped in the sea."

"In the sea? In the middle of February? Are you mad? Casey, get me a blanket and the first aid kit! Come Mona, sit."

Mona Lisa sat in the couch and let the young woman examine her wounded arm.

"Casey and I just returned from the sewers, we went to visit our turtle friends. When I saw you on that video camera I was flabbergasted! First news I have from you in a year, and I see you attack a tech ninja. I had no idea you were back, you should have here come sooner. At least you wouldn't have that nasty wound on your arm."

_How does she know about the attack in the sewers? _

"Miss April…"

"Just April."

"April, your friends …"

"Yes?"

"I'd like to meet them."

* * *

The light was on in Donatello's Lab.  
The brown green turtle finished resting a long time ago. More prone to sleepless nights than his brothers, Donatello needed less sleep and recovered quicker: A four-hour night was enough for him when his brothers needed their seven-hour rests. His first mug of coffee in one hand, a pencil in the other and a map before his eyes, Donatello was more than ready to attack the day.  
First task: to locate, identify and isolate possible retreats for a fugitive mutant girl.  
As he began checking possible locations on the map, Donatello couldn't help but think that he, more than any of his brothers, wanted to find that girl. He was up before everyone else, he was conducting the research while everyone was still asleep, and he was already thinking about the fascinating conversations they would have with her. In one word, he did not give up.  
To Donatello, every problem had a solution. Failure only meant that this solution was not the best one. If things did not turn they way they should, he just had to figure something else out.  
Now where could she be?

As brilliant as he was, Donatello was only half-right. There was some else in the lair who wasn't asleep.  
Raphael, lying in his hammock with his eyes wide open, was playing the day inside his head. The ambush with his brothers, the scream, the discovery of the tech foot ninja… and what they saw on the video. The image was dark and blurry, but there was something Raphael did not miss: the flash of pain on the young girl's face. Raphael knew that face. The punks he regularly beat up had the same when he launched a full attack on them. Only he never beat up innocent people. And she was innocent. Mona Lisa was innocent. She got hurt only because she saved them. And it was something he just couldn't bear. Was he really the only one among his brothers who noticed how bad she was hurt?  
Probably. Donny big brain was a genius but he was blind when it came to expressions, Mikey was still under the shock that the girl even existed, and Fearless Leader Leo was too busy reporting the news to Master Splinter. If it was up to him, Raphael, they wouldn't have stopped the research. They would have continued searching until they dropped. But they were all sent to bed instead, like kids. And none of his brothers protested, like kids.  
Humph! He really was the only one who wanted to find that girl.  
_Mm? What's that noise? I guess Mikey's up_.

Mikey was more than ever bursting with energy. A female mutant! No time to loose, he had everything to plan!  
First things first, what video games? He wanted to show her what an awesome player he was! Even play with her. Playing video games with a mutant girl, cool or what? Wait a second, did she like video games? There was always a female character in the TV show he watched to say that girls had more important things to do than play stupid video games. Nah, she wouldn't be like this. She was a female mutant, she was way cooler than that, he was sure of it!  
Second, if he was to lend her some of his comic books, which one should he pick? Everyone likes comic books, so she should like them as well! Maybe one with a cool heroine in it… Mm too bad there were none in the Silver Sentry comics.  
"I know!"  
He reached out for his X-men collection; Jean Grey was pretty cool. Storm was awesome! Oh wait, there was Mystic. She was classy, in her way. But maybe the mutant girl could misunderstand it and thought he compared her to a blue-skin, mean mutant.  
Bad choice.  
This was getting hard. Mikey couldn't sleep because he kept thinking of all the preparations for the girl's arrival, but somehow it was harder than he anticipated. And he couldn't count on the advice of his brothers either, they'll probably say it's stupid. Was he the only to guess that after being chased down by enemies, she'll need a bit of fun?  
_Dudes, come uh-on!_

All this noise in the room next door was making Leo's meditation difficult.  
Meditating was an excellent way to keep your mind focus while resting your body Leo learnt, a lesson he often wished his brothers applied more frequently. It would make them realize that all this edginess was ill focused. After all, defending one in need was the way of honor, it was only natural for them to help this girl. So how come he was the only one to understand that the concern was with Karai, and not with this mutant girl? To find out Karai's intentions was the quickest way to keep everyone, his brothers and the girl alike, safe. But as usual, he thought, he was the only one to think of such matters.

_Ding!  
_**April- Hey Don, you're awake?  
**Don raised his head from the map as the computer detected an incoming message. Letting go of the pen, he typed;  
**Don- Yep. How come you're already awake? **(He checked on his computer's clock) **Its only 6am you know.  
****April- I know! But I had to tell you! She's here Don. Mona Lisa is here, at my place, with Casey and me.  
**Donatello's jaw dropped in surprise. His mind went blank. He was lucky April couldn't see him through the computer. Instead, she replied;  
**April- I'm not sure how she managed, but she went straight to my apartment after the fight with the tech foot. She was ****waiting**** for me there!  
****Don- How is she?  
****April- She's still sleeping. She has a burn mark on her arm. I mended it the best I could but I'm afraid she's gonna have a scar for a while. And Don? She wants to meet you guys**.  
**Don- Really?!  
****April- Yes really. Come at my place around 6 pm. But don't come by the roof, use the underground tunnel.**

"Guys!! Guys, you better come here!!" Donatello shouted.

* * *

A few hours later, at April's apartment.

Mona Lisa stepped into the shower and set the temperature at maximum heat. She did not move when the water started pouring on her head, cold at first, then warmer and warmer, until finally steam enveloped her whole body. She remained motionless under the hot water for several minutes. Minutes of pure bliss during which life suddenly seemed easier, where she forget that she was freezing a few hours ago. Mona Lisa reached for the soap and wash cloth April had prepared for her and let out a little smile: that ginger-hair girl and her boyfriend sure were nice to her.

While rubbing her skin, Mona Lisa began to think of what was waiting for her: meeting the turtles, was it really a good idea? What if she scared them? Don't worry, April told her, it's going to take a lot more than your tail to scare those guys. What if they did not get along? Not a chance, Casey answered, and even if by some miracle you don't get along, they're not gonna kick out. It's not their kind.

_I just hope they're right._

Mona Lisa reluctantly left the shower. There were clothes waiting for on the chair, along with a pair of scissors, to cut a hole for her tail. Even if she was a mutant, April thought Mona Lisa wouldn't feel very at ease meeting the turtles without something on. Let's not make the situation more awkward than it already was for her.

"You look much better!" were the first words Casey told Mona Lisa when she stepped out of the bathroom. She smiled.

"Thank you. And thank you for the clothes too. "

"No problem. They fit you better than me."

The young mutant girl was now wearing a baggy jean that Casey grew out of, and an over-sized pink sweater. This surprised April.

"Since when do you have a pink sweater Casey?"

"Huh, originally it was white. But…"

"You put it in the laundry machine with your red shirts?"

"Hum, yes."

The two girls giggled. But they immediately stopped when the door rang.

"It's too early to be the guys. We only expect them in an hour." April quickly whispered.

Without a sound, Casey approached the door and slightly opened it.

"Master Splinter? You're early."

"Good evening M. Jones, Miss O'Neil. I know I am early, but I wished to speak with your guest."

_Master Splinter_. Mona Lisa knew that name, he was one of April's friends. So there was no reason for her to remain hidden behind the couch now was it? She was feeling a bit silly. Mona Lisa stood up. All heads turned toward her.

April and Casey did not lie, Master Splinter was a rat. And he truly looked like a Master. When she was 10 Mona Lisa's parents took her to a dojo once, to see her little brother during his lesson. She saw the teachers there, calm, strong and serene. Master Splinter had the same aura of strength and serenity around him, only he looked much wiser. Everything in him breathed authority, and yet, by the way he hugged April and warmly shook Casey's hand, Mona Lisa could feel he was a kind Master.

"You said you wanted to talk to me?"

* * *

Back at the lair, Leonardo was searching for his master. He was not in the dojo, not in the living room and nowhere to be found in his quarters. So where could he be? Master Splinter wouldn't go anywhere without warning someone. Unless…

"I can't believe it!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Mona Lisa, a cup of tea in her hands, was now facing Master Splinter. Somehow, she felt intimidated. Did April and Casey felt like this too the first time they met him? She'll have to ask them later, for now, they had the courtesy to retreat to the kitchen while the two of them were talking.

"So… what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Miss Mona Lisa…"

_Ok, now I'm scared_.

"I wished to thank you."

"Wh-What for? I did nothing that…"

"On the contrary. You saved my sons. I saw the video tape. I saw you attack that tech ninja bare handed, I saw you take a bullet for them, and I saw you suffer for them, for people you did not know. You saved my sons Miss Mona Lisa. And for this, you have my gratitude." He bowed his head.

Mona Lisa did not really know what to say.

"You could have waited to tell me that you know."

"Perhaps. But if I waited for tonight, I may not have had a chance to thank you. My sons are so eager to meet you they probably would not have let me speak. Yes, Miss Mona Lisa, they want to meet you," he repeated after seeing her expression.

"Can I ask you something Master Splinter?"

"Anything."

"Are your sons as polite as you?"

He smiled. Leonardo's language was very formal, even cold sometimes, Donatello spoke a language only he understood, Michelangelo only spoke like this when he wished to mock someone and Raphael often used his fists rather than real words. "Only to me. So my answer would be no."

This time, it was Mona's turn to smile.

"I am sorry Miss Mona Lisa, but I have another thing to ask you."

"???"

"What are you going to do now? Where will you go?"

"Hum, well… I didn't really think about it."

"Then, would you like to come and live with us? I know the sewers are very different from the outside world, but I can assure you you'll have everything you need. And if you are wondering why I'm inviting you," he quickly added before she said something," it's because I want it. And it's not just me, my sons jumped with excitement when I told them, so do not feel like you'll disturb us. We'll be very happy if you accepted our invitation."

There was a silence. Mona Lisa seemed so lost in her thoughts that Splinter feared she was going to refuse. Until,

"I have a request; if I'm going to live with you and your family, then I'd like you to stop calling me 'Miss', Mona Lisa is enough. Please? "

"Mm, this is going to be very hard but I can try" the old rat answered with a smile.

At the same moment, April's door violently opened, letting the four turtles in. They were all pushing to come in, but ended up falling on each other in a pile.

"My sons," said Splinter, half-smiling, half- angry, "is this the way to enter one's apartment? I don't recall teaching you such manners. Just when I managed to convince Mona Lisa that you were decent people and that she could move in without fear."

"Whu?"

"What?!"

"So she's coming?"

"Really and truly?"

"Don't worry," whispered Casey, "Master Splinter never says something he doesn't mean. There were good people, you'll see."

"Then, Master Splinter, I very happily accept your invitation. Yes, I'm very happy"

The bright light in Mona Lisa's eyes did not escape Splinter's notice. He stood up, and invited the young girl to follow him. It was time for him to introduce his sons.

* * *

"You failed again."

The tone was cold, bossy, from someone who was used to being obeyed without question. She spoke slowly, in a soft voice, but there was no trace of kindness in it.

"Tell me, how can one mutant defeat my warriors?"

"We were ambushed mistress Karai…"

"Silence! You knew where she was and how to catch her. You had weapons and allies. You had no reason to fail me! I am tired of your excuses."

"But Mistress Karai, it wasn't our target that defeated us. It was your enemies, the ninja turtles."

_The turtles. No matter how many times we attack them, those four keep messing up with our plans. With my Master at first, then with me when he was gone. But this is not about my late Master. I can't have those four and the rat mess up with me again. The stakes are too high. I thought my last encounter with Leonardo settled this. I did not approach his family, and they stayed away from me. So why did they interfere this time? _

"Where is the target now?"

"She fled after the battle mistress. But our surveillance team reports she visited the Second Time Around shop, and spoke with Ms O'Neill."

_How did the mutant know about this shop?_ Karai wondered.

It did not matter. If the mutant spoke with O'Neill, it probably meant the ginger hair woman took the mutant with her to see the turtles. And if that was the case, then there was no use trying to look for them. Karai already discovered their lair once and there was very little chance it could happen again. And now that the female mutant was under the protection of the turtles, Karai could no longer reach her. Unless…

Karai let out a small, cold laugh.

"Mistress Karai, shall we resume the search?"

"No. let the target run for the moment. Let her think she's safe."

Surprised, the ninja bowed to his master's command nonetheless and left. As soon as the door was closed, a voice emerged from the shadow.

"Mistress Karai, why are you stopping the research?"

Karai turned around to watch the owner of the voice approach her.

"Why do ask? My late Master taught me to always adapt your strategy to the enemy's. So rather than wasting time and energy chasing our prey, we will let her come to us. Think Dr. Chaplin. One woman, four men, such a cruel equation."

Such a cruel equation. If one of the turtles fell for the mutant girl, it means the others would have nothing. Jealousy will arise. The turtle will have to choose between betraying his family and giving up his only chance for love. If the two lovebirds fled, it will be easier for her tech ninjas to catch them. And if he chose his brothers, the little mutant girl will have no choice but to leave. Either way it was perfect. Her sworn enemies will be destroyed from within, and her target will eventually come out no matter what. All Karai had to do now was to be patient.


	5. Chapter 5: Welcome to my life

**Authour's little note: **I'm finally through with that chapter! I thought I'll never see the end of, it was so long to write. I really wanted to make a good chater in which everyone can see how Mona Lisa interrects with the brothers. The scene takes place a couple of weeks after she moves in, and every brother gets his moment with her including Raphael in a very........akward situation (but i'll let you see that by yourselves ^^)  
The words in italic either indicate a character's thoughts, or a flashback.

You know what other big problem I had? I had to decide if Mona Lisa had blue eyes or brown eyes. In the old cartoon, all characters have black eyes (thank you for the help, really) and the fan work about her shows the two possibilities so I had to make up my mind. But once again, you'll have to read to see the result ^^  
Now, without further waiting:

* * *

Chapter 5: lantern in the dark, welcome to my life

**11:00 am**

"Mikey? Can I come in?"

"Sure!"

Mona Lisa stepped into the room. One thing she liked about the orange-clad turtle is that his door was always open. Whoever was looking for Michelangelo, whether it was her or the turtle brothers, was sure to find him: Michelangelo never closed his door to anyone, except at night time. This little habit of his immediately made the young girl feel welcomed from the moment she moved in, three weeks ago. He never missed a chance to wave at her each time she passed in front of his room, even if he saw her only ten minutes ago.

"I came to return the comic book you lent me."

"You liked it?"

"Yeah, a lot. Can I have the next one?"

"Sure! Don't move!"

_For a guy who acts like a teenager, he actually is very organized,_ she thought as Michelangelo was placing the comic book back on the shelf.

_All of his comic books are carefully lined up, sorted out according to their collections and numbers. I wonder how he got all those? Maybe he found them in the sewers, which would explain why some of them have spoiled pages. I never noticed before, but his whole universe revolves around super heroes. He has comic books, posters, even figurines. I feel like I'm in a museum of some sort._

She looked around.

_Only a museum doesn't have chocolate and candy papers on the ground. And I've never seen a table like that in a museum either. _

On one corner of Michelangelo's room was a table with objects and tools to take care of his nunchakus: oil for the wood and the chain, leather straps, tools…

_I guess it's the only "serious" part of that room_.

"Found it!" said Mikey as he managed to take a book out of the overcrowded shelf,"Silver Sentry Comic #12, a very good one!"

He handed her a yellow edition with the title written in silver and red letters. The cover showed the super hero giving the bad guy a monstrous punch that seemed to push him out of the page.

"Thanks Mikey. Looks like the bad guy is going to suffer in this one."

He nodded.

"Villain butt-kicking time is my favorite part."

"You bet. Are your brothers reading comic books as well?"

Michelangelo shook his head. "Nah. Don prefers science magazines. You know, super genius stuff that deals with computers and physics and a whole lot of stuff I don't understand. And Leo is too busy practicing. And Raph, well… let's just say that he tends to forget to give me my books back."

Mona Lisa smiled, "you would have gotten so well with my little brother, Jason."

"What's that you said Mona? I didn't hear you."

"Oh, nothing, I was just mumbling to myself."

_(?) Mona Lisa, just then… was that a tear in your eye or did I just imagine that?  
_"Oh! I almost forgot. Raph was looking for you."

"Raphael? What does he want?"

"I don't know. He said he had something to give you."

_

* * *

Something to give me? What could that be?_ Mona Lisa thought as she covered the five-meter distance that separated Michelangelo's room from Raphael's.

Raphael was the one she had the most trouble having a good relationship with. Not that he was impolite or mean to her, on the contrary. He was…distant. Yes, that was it, distant. Not lost into his own world like Leo when he was training, or like Don when he was working on a project or Mikey with his video games. He was more reserved with her. They didn't talk much. Maybe it was his silent attitude that drove her to call him 'Raphael' and not 'Raph' the way his brothers did.

Mona Lisa couldn't help but feel a bit sad that after three weeks, she still hasn't figured out how to bring him out of his shell (to say the least!) and get him to talk to her in a more open way. Chatting with people she recently met never was a problem to her, and after almost two years of solitude, she **needed** people to talk with. If only Raphael was more open…

But she was not going to give up. _Not a chance_, she thought. Raphael was looking for her? Fine, it was a perfect chance to start a conversation.

_Knock knock_

"Raphael? Are you there?"

No answer.

Maybe he was in the dojo, or in the kitchen. If that was the case, she just had to jump down to the ground floor to find him.

Yet, she remained in front his door. There was something about that room that attracted her, like a painting catches the eye of a visitor in a museum. She already caught a glimpse of each of the brothers' rooms, of their universe. She even joined Master Splinter for tea in his bureau on several occasions. They all invited her in their private space at least once. All but Raphael.

_I wonder what it looks like._

Without noticing it, her hand had reached the handle and she was opening the door.

The room seemed bigger than Michelangelo's, probably because the walls were not hidden behind shelves filled with comic books. Mona Lisa was surprised to see that Raphael slept in a hammock: a large, brown hammock with a pillow and a duvet to complete it as a bed. Mona Lisa noticed that Raphael's duvet was the same as her. The duvet in her room, did it come from Raphael? The carpet beneath the hammock also looked like the one she had in her room.

But it wasn't just the hammock that made Raphael's space different; the red-clad turtle never seemed to stop practicing: There was a punching bag, weightlifting materials, several targets to exercise his sai throw. He was taking all this very seriously.

If it wasn't for the hammock, the magazines on the floor, the mini fridge in one corner and Mikey's comics on the desk, Mona Lisa would have thought she was in another dojo. In Raphael's dojo.

"What are you doing here?"

She jolted. Raphael was there, in the door frame, staring at her. She opened her mouth to answer, but no sound came out. Suddenly she remembered why she had difficulties talking with Raphael: it wasn't just his reserved nature, it was that…he made her speechless! She was self-confident, sure of her beauty (well, at least she was) but in front of his eyes, she had the feeling everything she said, everything she did would be analyzed, judged and remembered. Useless words were as bad as lies in the mind of Raphael Hamato.

"Mikey said you were looking for me. I knocked but no one answered so… I just wanted to check if you were there."

_How come I didn't hear him coming? I should've felt he was approaching! Great job Mona Lisa, awesome really. _

"I wasn't looking for you."

"You weren't…?"

"Nope." _And I'll be sure to tell Mikey_, he added. But Raphael kept the last part of the sentence for himself.

There was a silence. Until…

"On the second thought, there was something I wanted to give you."

Raphael passed in front of a very bewildered Mona Lisa, and reached for something under his desk.

"This is yours, right?"

She immediately recognized what he was holding.

"My sport bag!" She took it. "Thank you Raphael. Mm?"

"Is something wrong?"

"I'm missing a hair ribbon. I had three, I'm sure of it."

"Really?" He looked into the bag, and then went to check under his desk, "I don't understand, I put everything back in your bag so how…"

Crumpling noises made Raph lift his head to see Klunk playing… with Mona Lisa's hair ribbon.

"Mikey! Tell that stupid cat of yours to let go of that thing right now!"

Mona Lisa started to giggle. Seeing a giant mutant turtle chasing after the cat that kidnapped her hair ribbon was just too much. The giggle turned into chuckling, then chuckling into laughing, and soon her laugh rang out in Raphael's room.

"Here, I finally managed to get it back. Mona Lisa? What are you looking at?"

Her sport bag on the floor, Mona Lisa was now holding a black helmet in her hands. Raphael felt very ill at ease, and for a good reason: Mona Lisa was now holding his night watcher helmet! Unaware of his trouble, the young girl kept admiring it.

"Is this a bike helmet?"

"Yeah, it is."

"It's beautiful."

_Beautiful? You think it's beautiful?_ He relaxed a bit.

"So the bike I saw earlier, it's yours?"

"Yeah. Don built it, but I'm the one riding it."

"He BUILT it? Wow!"

"Yeah he built it," _did I mention I was riding it?_

Raphael felt a bit jealous. He was the rider and she admired the engineer. No fair.

"Raphael! Break's over! It's training time!" Donatello called

_Crap_. "I'll be there in a second!" he answered. And to Mona, "you're coming?"

* * *

Practice was a moment Mona Lisa liked a lot. She liked to see the brothers in action; they always practiced together, under the supervision of Master Splinter.

In the beginning, she just sat and watched them. With training taking an important place in their lives, she sat and watched a lot. Until a little "accident" occurred at the end of the first week:

"_Today my sons, we shall work on your aims. A true ninja must be able to anticipate the moves of his target, and to reach it at all times. A perfect aim can save your life while a deflected throw can give your enemy the opportunity to strike back. Leonardo, Raphael, you may choose to keep your weapons for this exercise or to take another weapon instead. Donatello and Michelangelo, leave your bô staff and nunchakus here and take the shurikens." _

"_Yes Master Splinter," they all answered._

_And thus, the practice began. Mona Lisa sat on the bench where Donatello and Michelangelo had left their weapons and watched the competition between the two other brothers: Each of Leonardo's aim reached the center of the target, and Raphael made it a point of principle to have as many correct shots as his blue-clad brother. Maybe it was because she was so focused on those two that she didn't see the missile heading her way._

"_Mona Lisa! Drop!"_

_She didn't drop. She jumped. So high she reached the ceiling. Next thing she knew, she was up there with her hands holding one of the ceiling's beams, and her legs and tail suspended in the void. She heaved herself up so as to have the upper part of her body on the beam. Once she made sure her grip was strong enough, she threw her leg and ended up astride the beam. _

_She looked down. The four brothers had stopped their training the moment they heard their master shout. It was Leonardo who spoke first;_

"_Mona Lisa, are you ok?"_

"_I'm fine. What just happened?"_

"_It's my fault," confessed Donatello, "the shuriken I threw bounced against the wall and was heading toward you. Master Splinter warned you just in time to avoid it, but instead of falling to the ground you just…ended up here."_

"_Does it happen often? That you jump this high when you try to avoid something I mean," Leo asked._

"_No, I … I just thought, 'I need to move' and I jumped. But I didn't mean to jump THAT high" she answered._

"_Mona Lisa, why don't you come down? I'd like to ask you a few questions about this ability of yours." _

"_Hum…Sure Master Splinter. But how do I do that?"_

"_This you need to figure out by yourself. You got yourself into this position; you can get yourself out of it."_

"_But Master Splinter…" Leo started to protest, but Splinter silenced him._

"_You do not need to worry my son. Watch."_

_The turtles watched Mona Lisa jump in the void, her body circled several time during her fall, before landing gracefully on the ground. _

"_Awesome!"_

"_Way to go!"_

"_Nice jump Mona!"_

"_That rocked!"_

"_My sons resume your training," Splinter ordered, "Miss Mona Lisa and I need to have a talk about what just happened."_

_The turtles reluctantly returned to their training while Splinter took Mona Lisa apart._

"_So you're telling me you did not know you had this ability?"_

"_No, I didn't know until today. I mean, I knew that I was stronger since I was transformed, but I never tried to see how much."_

"_How long have you been transformed Mona Lisa?"_

_She made a quick math, "18 months, going on 19."_

"_And you never realized that your new body enhanced your agility?" _

_She paused before answering, "Master Splinter, ever since I was transformed, this new body brought me nothing but trouble. I had nowhere to go, people I did not know started chasing me, and I had to think about my survival so testing how high I could jump was the least of my worries. The only moments I thought this agility was useful was when it helped me escape. " _

"_I see, you reacted by instinct. You detected a danger, and your body reacted without your order. But since you reacted by instinct, you do not know how to control this new strength and therefore, jumped higher than necessary. Your flexibility and speed, combined with the strength your tail holds, can be very useful into battle. Provided you learn how to control them." _

_He got up._

"_And I believe I know how you could learn this."_

And thus, Mona Lisa now trained with the turtles. And she loved it. She joined the brothers to hear Master Splinter give today's instructions: Today she will be training with Leo. It was not going to be an easy session.

* * *

**2:00 pm**, in Donatello's lab.

"So Mona Lisa, how did you find today's training?"

Mona Lisa gave Donatello a take-a-guess look. She was tired, hurt, and had bruises on her arm. Was it that hard to guess how the training went?

"It was tough, Leo is very strong. Even though Master Splinter said my exercise was just to avoid his hits it was still difficult. I thought he was going to punch my face more than once! He really is very strong."

"He's not called 'the prodigal son' for nothing. And sparing with Leo is not easy for us either, without or without his sabers. But look at the bright side; you can stand up against Leo after only two weeks of training, so it can only get better."

Nonetheless, he handed her something to soothe her bruises.

"Thank you Don."

"Now, shall we continue that little experiment?"

Mona Lisa suddenly forgot her pain.

"Yes! Let me show something."

* * *

**5:30pm**

The activity in the lab did not escape Leonardo's notice. His brother and Mona Lisa have been busy all afternoon. It was not new for Donatello to spend hours in his lab, working. But what was Mona Lisa doing with him?

Come to think of it, Mona Lisa said she was a college student, in physics major. So in a way, it wasn't surprising to see a physics major student in a lab. But for more than three hours? Maybe not.

"Great. Now we have two geeks in the family."

"What are you mumbling about Leo?"

Leonardo turned around to see Raphael coming toward him. The way he opened and closed his hands revealed that that the red-clad turtle just spent some time brutalizing his punching bag.

"Nothing, just wondering what Mona Lisa and Don have been doing in the lab all afternoon."

"So now you're gonna watch her every move too? Like you do it with me?"

"I was just asking myself a question Raph, don't start it."

"Start what?"

There was no mistake in that tone, Raphael was looking for a fight.

"Raph…."

"Hey guys! Check it out!" Don burst out the lab with a bowl in his hands, Mona Lisa closely following him. The two of them were so excited they failed to notice the anger burning in the eyes of the two brothers. Leonardo and Raphael angrily stared at each other for a few seconds, before Leo turned his eyes from the emerald turtle and focused on Donatello.

"What is it Don? What's in that bowl?"

"It's Mona Lisa's experiment! And it's just awesome."

Splinter, along with Michelangelo, was now joining them. The old rat cautiously dipped his finger into the bowl: it was as thick as modeling clay and warm too.

"Let me show you," said Mona Lisa.

She took the bowl from Donatello, and sitting on her tail, she began to apply a thick layer of clay on her hands and feet. She remained in this position during ten seconds, supported by her tail, her feet not touching the ground. Finally, she put her hands on the walls, then her feet… and started climbing.

"It's Mona's super strong glue!" she proudly announced when she was several meters above the ground, "with this thing, I can climb anywhere I want for half an hour! I invented it when I was in high school it never let me down."

"Wait Mona, I'm coming!"

Michelangelo applied the clay on his hands and feet, and climbed. Only he did not stop at Mona's level, he continued upward. And when he reached the highest point of the lair, Michelangelo began to walk **on** the ceiling. With his hands and feet at first, then with his sole feet; he was walking upside down on the ceiling.

Back on the ground everyone, except Master Splinter, was now trying Mona's glue.

"Careful Mikey, if you get stuck up there I'm not sure how you're gonna get down."

"I'll find a way Mona, don't worry. You said we have half an hour?"

"Yes, then it sticks to where you are and you get stuck. So before that happens, you have to peel it off, like this."

Mona Lisa reached for her foot and easily peeled off the clay.

"Afterwards, I'll just boil it to get rid of the germs and to reactivate the glue cells."

"Half an hour? We got all the time in the world then."

* * *

**6:45 pm**

Mona Lisa, sitting cross legged on the couch, could finally read her comic book. After the Spiderman glue episode (Mikey's version of Mona's special glue tryout) she spent some time boiling the clay over and making sure there was enough left for the next time. Luckily, Donatello had all the necessary ingredients in his lab to make some more if necessary. For the time being, the preparation was cleaned, stored and ready to be re-used. So Mona Lisa could take some time off. Next to her, Donatello and Michelangelo were playing video games upside down. It made her smile.

"What are you guys doing?"

"Winning of course! We get better scores when we play like this" was Michelangelo's answer.

Irrefutable logic.

"What game are you play …"

SLAM!

The sound of a slammed door interrupted her. Three heads turned to where the noise came from, angry voices and muffled curses echoed from the dojo.

"Oh no, not again," Don sighed.

"What is it?"

"Leo and Raph", Mikey explained, "They're always arguing about anything and everything."

"I thought they calmed down, but apparently, it was only a question of time before they started quarrelling again," continued Donatello.

Mona Lisa followed them to the dojo. They arrived just in time to see Master Splinter stop the dispute between the two brothers. But it wasn't settled yet. Ignoring Leonardo's calls, Raphael turned around and left the dojo. When he passed in front of Mona Lisa, the young girl noticed his brown eyes had turned to gold under the influence of anger.

_Scary_, she thought.

She looked at Master Splinter.

"I'm sorry you had to witness this, Mona Lisa. My sons tend to quarrel a lot but it's been so long since their last dispute I almost forgot what it could be like. It is the first one they had in a while, and unfortunately, it was quite violent as I'm sure you have noticed."

_He's talking about the eyes_. "Where do you think Raphael is going?" she asked.

"Probably gone to beat up some punks, like he always does when he's angry," Leo answered. Then in a calmer voice, "I'm sorry we scared you. Don't worry, it won't happen again."

But somehow she found it hard to believe him.

* * *

**8:00 pm**

Mona Lisa was giving Donatello a hand at clearing out the table. She hesitated a second before clearing away Raphael's place setting, the red-clad turtle hasn't returned yet.

"Don't worry," Leo told her as if he guessed what she was thinking, "Raph will eat when he comes back. He always does."

"Eating or coming back?"

"Both."

Mona Lisa took the clean plate, fork and knife and put them back in their rightful drawers.

"Leo, can I ask you something?"

He nodded.

"What were you fighting about?"

_Good question Mona Lisa, what were we fighting about? _Leo thought. If he remembered correctly, it started right before the glue episode, then they had to pause it because she and Donatello were there, and later it continued like…

"_Great job Raphael, I thought you calmed down this past three weeks but I was wrong! You had to make a scene in front of our guest! Why can't you behave?"_

"_Don't talk to me about behaving O'Fearless one, you're no example yourself! You think I didn't see the bruises you gave her during training today? Her arm's a patchwork! You call __**that**__ behaving?"_

"_It was a training session, and you know I didn't fight her! She had to avoid my attacks and in the end, she got tired and I was faster than her, so yes, she ended up with some bruises! But it was an accident and you know it!" _

"_Yeah, my punch in your face is gonna be an accident all right!"_

"_What the fuck is your problem Raphael? All I did was to follow Master Splinter's instructions! You would have done the same thing!"_

"_And is spying on her part of Master Splinter's instructions too? Or are you doing it on your own personal agenda?"_

"_For the last time I wasn't spying on her! She and Don spent the entire afternoon in the lab, I was just curious!"_

"_The same way you're curious about where I've been when I come home late?"_

"_It has nothing to do with it Raph! Your vigilante work out there is dangerous and questionable as you damn know!"_

"_So you think what they do together is questionable? Right, two geeks discussing physics, how unnatural!"_

"_Raph I'm confused, what are we fighting about here?"_

"_Where fighting about you, Leo! You and your stupid rules! You think I didn't notice how you always manage to send me away anytime she's near? In three weeks I must have exchanged three phrases with her aside from the regular 'hey good morning, thank you, good night'!" _

"_It was just safety, given your temper and her past, who knows what…"_

"_Wait a second, what did you say?"_

"_I said that I wanted to make sure that you don't tell her something you shouldn't be saying."_

"_So I'm a brute who's gonna terrorize our guest after all she's been through is that it? I'm not stupid Leo!"_

"…"

"_No wait. Oh shit!" _

_It was at this moment Raphael's eyes turned yellow._

"_You think she's a spy! You think she's trying to get information from us! And you don't want me near her because you're afraid I'll say something compromising!"_

_Raphael was now boiling with anger. _

"_Now I understand why you insisted so much to train with her today."_

"_I don't have to justify myself to you Raph."_

"_What about April and Casey, you think they're spies too? They would have never introduced her to us if they thought she was a danger! And to think she trusts you…"_

"_What?"_

"_Mona Lisa! She trusts you Leo! She trusts every one of us! And you abuse of it to spy on her! How magnificent of you, O'Fearless one!"_

"_Raph? Raph! Where are you going?"_

"_I'm gonna show you what a wrong asshole you are! You want proof that she's no spy? Fine! I'll get you proof!"_

Master Splinter heard the dispute, Leo was sure of it. Why else did he let Raphael leave? He just hoped Mona Lisa and his younger brothers did not hear anything.

"Leo? Did you hear me? What were you fighting about?"

_We fought because Raph was right for once: because I was an arrogant idiot who misjudged you, and now my little brother is out there to remind me once more how wrong I was. _

"Leo? Was it really that bad?"

"Don't worry Mona Lisa, Raphael doesn't need a reason to quarrel with Leo. He's going come home soon and tomorrow morning, he'll be here and act as if nothing happened." Donatello assured her.

Leo felt relieved. _Thank you Don_…

* * *

**1:00 am**

For the first time in long while, Raphael was happy: his mission was a success. Oh sure, he was bleeding a bit and his hand burnt like hell, but he did it. He got the proof. Even Leo would have to acknowledge it. Honestly, Mona Lisa? A spy?

_Bullshit_.

Leonardo trusted Karai to be trustworthy when everything indicated otherwise and now he was convinced Mona Lisa was a spy when all of Karai's troops were after her.

_Stupid Leo_.

Now all he had to do was to go and deliver the proof to…

_**Ouch! **_

Raphael took a look at his hand. Maybe he should mend it before going to Master Splinter. Otherwise, his master would focus more on his hand than on the result of his mission. Therefore, the red-clad turtle headed toward the 'infirmary'. Not much of an infirmary, it was more like two huge cupboard filled with medicine and healing supplies. There were in a little room next to Don's lab.

Raphael opened one of the cupboards, and stared at its content without knowing what to pick.

"Need a hand?"

Raphael turned around, _Mona Lisa_.

There she was, in the door frame, starring at him. Like he did this morning.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

Mona Lisa had a little smile, "how about you?"

He shrugged, "I have to deal with this minor injuries first."

"Need a hand?"

Raphael looked at his hand, then at Mona Lisa, then at his hand again before answering.

"Yes…. please."

Mona Lisa examined Raphael: some minor cuts on his legs and left arm, but nothing dangerous, his right hand however…

"What happened to your hand?"

"One of the enemies used a red-hot saber. But I only noticed when he blocked my punch with his blade."

"Ouch!"

"Yes, ouch."

"If that's the case, you need a special ointment."

Raphael watched Mona Lisa rummage through the different supplies. She took out the ointment, the tensor bandage, and it seems she was looking for something else: she closed the cupboard and started searching in the other one.

"I could have sworn there was tape. You know, to fix the bandage. Oh well, I guess I'll have to use something else."

She opened the balm container.

"Don't move."

He watched her take ointment in her hand, and gently apply it on his, only brushing by his skin to not hurt him. When she finished applying the ointment, she softly blew on his burnt hand.

"I'll let it rest a moment" she said.

Mona Lisa took some absorbent cotton, the disinfectant bottle, and began to clean his cuts. On his legs to start with, then moving upward to his arms and shoulders.

"Relax, you're all tensed. I'm not going to hurt you."

It was hard to relax when the girl he almost never spoke with was suddenly inches from him. Raph never noticed that she webbed hands; they were long, thin, but there was a skin membrane between each finger. Nor did he ever noticed that her eyes were not all brown, like he first thought, but more chestnut-brown, a very subtle color that illuminated her gaze. Nor did he ever paid attention to the fact that the pink scarf and hair ribbon she always wore really suited her, and enhanced her long dark brown hair.

"Raphael? Is something wrong?"

Without realizing it he had been staring at her this whole time.

"No nothing."

Mona Lisa took another look at his hand. Satisfied, she reached for the bandage and wrapped his hand.

"There, all done."

"…… Mona Lisa?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you."

She gave him a soft smile, "you're welcome Raph."

* * *

Master Splinter quietly retired. He had planned to wait for Raphael, but something unexpected happened; Mona Lisa waited for him as well. Even after twenty years together, none of his brothers ever stayed up late to wait for him. All this was unexpected. And beautiful.

It wasn't just the wait. It wasn't just the thank you. It was something far greater than that. Raphael and Mona Lisa just told each other "I accept you in my world."


	6. Chapter 6: The end of silence

**Author's little note: **Nooooooooooo! I found a beautiful writing for Mona Lisa's diary on my computer but the site did as if it didn't exist. Snif Snif, too bad. Oh well, guess I sould move on to:

* * *

Chapter 6: out of the dark, the end of silence

"…"

"…"

"So that's it."

"Yes master."

"Are you sure about this information my son?"

"Definitely. All the foot ninjas I questioned had the same answer: Mona Lisa has had a bounty on her head for a while now."

"Why?"

"I'm not entirely sure master. I think it has something to do with a deal Karai made, and Mona Lisa is part of it. But once again, I'm not sure. I didn't have time to fully investigate. "

Splinter took a look at his son's burnt hand, then at son's face. If Raphael said he didn't have time, it meant that the enemy did not survive longenough to give the information he wanted.  
Under normal circumstances, Splinter would have lectured Raphael. Killing enemies was the best way to attract Karai's attention, and knowing his son's temper, it was likely that Raphael did not restrain himself.

But he said nothing. Instead, the old rat slightly bent forward and reached for the piece of paper that was placed between them.

It was a mission order: to find and retrieve the fugitive. The indications were clear, use all means necessary and kill whoever gets in the way. But there was also a reward: whoever succeeded…

"Whoever succeeds shall become Karai's right-hand man?"

Splinter couldn't believe his eyes.

"She must desperate to resort to such methods." He put the paper down."Trading a title for a life… what does Karai have in mind?"

"Master, there is more."

Raphael took out another piece of paper from his belt, very similar to the first one, and handed it to Splinter.

"Have a look at this."

Another mission order. Only this one looked more like a bounty, and it was issued by…

"The Purple Dragons?"

Raphael nodded.  
"Caught the messenger on my way home yesterday night. He had a bag full of those bounties with him. I knocked him out, took a paper and tear up the others."

Splinter fell silent. His gaze focused on the orders before him.

"The two most dangerous gangs in New York are both after the same person, and yet, they work separately." The old rat placed the two papers side by side, "look at the rewards my son: Hun and Karai are urging their troops. They are racing to find her. But why?"

Splinter paused again before adding;" I guess that settles it. Mona Lisa will stay here until it is safe enough for her to go."

Raphael bowed his head to hide a smile: now even Leo will have nothing to say. At least their argument and his burnt hand would not have been for nothing. He won over Leo. And Mona Lisa was staying.

"Raphael? Is there something else you wish to tell me, my son?"

_Bugger. And I tried to be discreet_. "Master, about Leo…"

"I will talk to Leonardo. Now, join your brothers, and tell them to prepare for today's training."

* * *

Mona Lisa just finished tying her leather straps around her wrists and ankles when Raphael walked in. The red-clad turtle said little, only to get ready, but Mona Lisa saw something she hasn't seen in weeks: he was smiling. Raphael was smiling. Just a little smile on the corner on his lips as if he didn't want to show it, but it was there.

"Raph, where's Leo?"

"He's coming Mikey, he's with Master Splinter," and to Mona, "ya ready?"

She nodded.

"Let's warm up then."

Warm up was nearly finished when Leo stepped into the dojo. He didn't like being late for training and was sure his brothers would ask him why he was late. Leo could always pretend he overslept, after all he often trained until it was late in the evening, and his brothers would probably tease him a bit and forget about it. But deep down, Leo knew he was late because Splinter summoned him. And he didn't like what he saw.

_Mona Lisa is not a spy, yes I knew that. I suspected it from the very beginning but I had to make sure, just the way I was cautious with April and Casey the first time we met them both. What worries me now is Karai. What are her intentions? _

Mona's cheery voice interrupted him.

"Hi Leo! You're late!"

A cheery voice, sparkling eyes, a big smile and speaking to him in an open way…

_If she only knew, _he thought. But he returned her smile.

"Good morning Mona. Yes, I know I'm late."

"Overslept?"

He didn't contradict her_._

"I'm ready for another round with you!" She raised her fists.

"Easy Mona, I only just arrived. I didn't even warm up yet."

"Oh," she lowered her hands, "right, sorry."

He paused for a few seconds before asking; "Raphael led the first part of the session, right? How did it go?"

"Very well."

"If that's the case, why don't you train with him today?" to his brother, "Hey Raph!"

_Raph and Mona start sparring. If I remember correctly, it's the first time they train together. Splinter always team up Mona with Don, or Leo. Don is the only one to have a weapon that can match the length of her tail, and Leo has lots of experience to share, therefore he's the perfect teacher for Mona. As a result I often end up with Raph. I love my bro, I even think I'm his favorite brother, but he's a monster at training: everyone knows he loves to fight, and he never restrain when it's sparring time. And he's no exception with me, favorite brother or not. What did Leo have in mind when he suggested Mona Lisa and Raph to train together today? Does he want to kill her? Hello? Leo, open your eyes dude! Can't you see that… ?...Hey, wait a second… Are they having actually having __FUN__? Yes, yes they __ARE__! Look at that, Mona Lisa is getting pretty good at this ninja training, look how she dodges Raph's attacks. And the more she dodges, the bigger the flame in his eyes gets. See how she uses her flexibility and tail to move around? Ah! Not fast enough for this last one though; Raph stopped his attack just in time. One more inches and he would have struck her eye. What are they doing now? Ah, they stop for a few seconds. Raph tells Mona of a better way to anticipate short-distance range attacks. She nods and points out to his legs with her tail. She says he puts too much weight on his front leg. One hit from her tail and she sends him on the ground. He nods in return. They look at each other and resume, with their faults corrected. They're working well together, much better than I thought. Huh? Now what? Don calls me. He says we better get starting too. Too bad, I could have watched them for a while_.

* * *

Raphael let out a long, tired sight and dropped rather than he sat on the bench. Training with Mona Lisa was more tiring than he expected; she had as much energy as his brother Mikey and was as willing to learn as Leo. But it was nice to spar with her; curiously, he was so caught up in the game he didn't feel the tiredness until Donatello pointed out that it was already half past eleven: Raphael had sparred an extra hour and a half.

Something soft and cushion-like fell on top of his head. A towel. Raphael reached for it and started to mop his forehead. He didn't bother to remove it. He knew who put it there. And he knew what the next step would be.

"You want some water bro?"

Raphael let the towel slip from his head to his knees and turned to the owner of the voice. It was another of Mikey's habit, to get everyone something to drink after training. Like every time, he was holding a tray with everyone's favorite after training drink: a soda for him, water for Raph, herbal tea for Leo, coffee for Donatello and green tea for Master Splinter. The red-clad turtle accepted the bottle Mikey was offering and took a few sips.

"Ah… thanks Mikey. What did you take for Mona Lisa?"

"Water, just like you. But I'll wait until she's finished talking with Leo to give her," he said, designating the two with his chin.

Raphael followed Michelangelo's gaze. Mona Lisa, her back turned to them, was indeed talking with Leonardo. The blue-clad brother had a very serious look on his face.

_What the hell is happening now? _Raphael thought

"She's cute."

"What?"

"Mona Lisa. She's cute."

"Oh. Huh, I don't know. Yeah, maybe she is."

"Come on, you find her beautiful. Or at least attractive," he quickly added when Raphael glared at him.

"Not that much."

Mikey's smirk grew larger.

"Oh really?"

"Yes! Really. Why?"

"Because you were so focused on her you spilled your entire bottle on the ground without noticing it."

Raphael swore and, grabbing hold of the towel on his knees, began cleaning up the mess.

"Come on, you're not fooling anyone. You like her."

There was a grunt.

"What's that Raph? I didn't hear you."

"I said 'NO'."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"Believe what you want, but no, I don't love her."

"I didn't say 'love' I said 'like'"

"It's the same thing."

"No it's not. I said 'like', you said 'love', that's the next step."

"Mikey…"

"Ok ok, so what if you don't love her? You still like her, right?"

"Like everyone around here does."

"So you DO like her."

"Will you cut it out?"

"Ok ok. I cut it out. You want to help me?"

"What?"

"You told me to cut it out, so I switch topic. You want to help me?"

"Help you do what?"

"Handing out the drinks of course, since I'm holding this heavy tray, can you go and give this water to Mona now she's finished speaking with Leo? Ok thank you catch you later!"

Before his brother could protest, Mikey quickly put the water bottle between Raph's hands and rushed to Donatello saying "hey Don, you want some coffee?"

"Mikey! Oh, what the hell… here Mona Lisa, catch!"

Mona Lisa caught the bottle, gave Raph a small "thanks" and left the dojo without saying another word. Leo kept staring at her, looking more serious than ever.

"You want to tell me what's going on bro?"

"She wants to go outside. I don't think she realizes how dangerous it is: two gangs are turning the whole city upside down searching for her and instead of staying here where it's safe, she wants to stick herself into the lion's mouth. "

"…"

"And even if we go outside as a group it will be too risky in case of an ambush. We can't fight an entire army and protect her at the same time."

"…"

"I know she can defend herself but an ambush is another story. She never faced an entire clan of foot before like we did."

" …"

"What?"

"… Nothing."

"Then I suggest you get ready. April and Casey are coming for lunch today."

* * *

April almost spent as much time in the lair as the turtle brothers did at her apartment. She had to be cautious before, but since the guys dig that tunnel between the lair and her building, it was much easier for her to drop by. Not to mention she now had a new friend! Even though she was younger, Mona Lisa had a lot in common with the ginger hair girl. And April was glad to see Mona Lisa got along with the turtles too.

Yet… something was different today. Why was she looking away? Between two conversations, her mind seemed to drift off.

"Correct me if I'm wrong Raph, but your protégée seems a bit down."

"Not because of you April, don't worry. When we told her that Casey and you were dropping by, she looked like a kid at Christmas Eve."

"Pffiu (_am I glad to hear that_) Then what is it?"

"She wants to go out."

"Why don't you take her outside then? If you're with her and stay out of sight, then there shouldn't be a problem. Not to mention that she can defend herself quite well."

"Leo said no."

"Since when did that ever stop you? Come on Raph, I thought that you better than everyone else would understand how she feels. She's protected, but now she feels OVER protected. No, don't interrupt me, for the time being just listen: She needs to breathe Raph, just like you. Leo said no because he would said no to you, I'm sure he said that without thinking first. He wants to protect, you want to escape protection, but most of all, you can't stand being watched. That's what Mona Lisa feels like after almost four weeks underground. She found a safe place with you guys to protect her, but don't forget that she spend more than a year in New York alone. Yes, she was exposed to danger, but she was free. And now she wants to be free again."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because if YOU don't understand that Raph, then no one can. How many times did you left the lair, grabbed Casey and went out at night?"

He shrugged.

"I left 'cause Leo was pissing me off and I needed to breath. You know how Mikey and Don call these moments when I leave and don't come back until three or four in the morning? They call them my 'runaway nights'."

"That's the difference Raph. She wants to go out, but she doesn't want to escape. She knows there's somewhere safe for her to return. That's the difference Leo failed to notice, so he said no. But if Mona Lisa doesn't go out, then there will be two mutants doing runaway nights soon."

Raphael had a sly smile.

"Are you encouraging me to disobey Leo?"

"I'm just concerned about Mona Lisa, that's all." She paused for a few seconds, "we never had this conversation."

"What conversation?"

* * *

**March 22, 2010**

**11 pm (more or less)**

**Dear diary,**

**The weather is getting better I think. The air in the sewers is not as dry and cold as it was in the past few weeks, and April had a different coat today, less thick than the one she had last time so I can assume it's getting slightly warmer. But once again, I'm not sure. I wish I could go outside and check. It's been nearly a month since I stepped outside, so after training today, I asked Leo if it was possible to go to the surface, even just for a little while. But he said no. He said it was too dangerous for me, and what if there's an ambush, bla bla bla… I know he means well, but I'm starting to suffocate down here. I want to go out again, to see people, and to breath something else than the air of the sewers.**

**I guess I sound selfish. Not being able to go outside as much as I want… that's something those four guys know better than anyone. I guess I'll just have to cope with it until it's safer. I just hope I won't have to wait until the next century.**

**I trained with Raph today, for the first time! He's as strong as Leonardo, only he fights in a much more aggressive way. But I don't mind, he always stops his hits just in time to not hurt me so…**

Knock knock

"Mona Lisa? Are you awake?"

_That voice…is that…?_

"Mona Lisa?"

"Keep it down Raph, I'm coming." _What does he want at this hour?_

Mona Lisa carefully opened her door so as to not make any noise. Like she thought, Raphael was standing in the doorway. But…

"Raph? What's with the costume?"

Raphael looked nothing like a ninja anymore, he traded his bandana and leather straps for human clothes: jean, sweater, coat, hat, and scarf, everything a human being wears in winter time he wore.

"You still have the clothes Casey gave you?"

"Yes, of course. Why? And why are you dressed like that?"

"It's to fit in better outside."

"You're going outside?"

"Yes, want to come?"

"Going out at this hour?"

"Now is the best time: the night has fallen and with the cold, the streets will be clear. No one will pay attention to us. And we're not leaving for long; we'll be back before anyone knows it."

He looked at her straight in the eyes.

"So, you're coming?"


	7. Chapter 7: The first come out

**Author's little note**: Long vacations somewhere withou internet prevented me from publishing this chapter when i finished it (a while ago) Now that i'm back to civilsation, i can finally upload it! By the way, i kept listening to the song "life is a highway"while writing about Mona Lisa and Raphael on the roofs. Why don't you give it a try ? (don't worry, you'll easily find which passage i'm talking about :-D )

First come out to the surface… and about Mona Lisa's origins.

* * *

Chapter 7: cold wind in the dark, the first come out

_When I was a little girl I wanted to be a princess. I was dreaming of the day my prince would come and take me away to his kingdom. Well, it's getting real: my prince turned into a ninja, he's now leading me through his sewer domain and it's not even 11:30 pm yet. Can't to see what midnight holds for me_.

It was the first thought that occurred to her mind as she followed Raphael in the sewer maze. Everything happened so fast. She dressed up in less than five minutes , they left the lair quietly without telling anyone, staying close to the walls to avoid the cameras Donatello installed. And as soon as they were out of range, they started to run.

_I'm going to the surface, finally. Oh gosh, I'm going to the surface !_

She was almost giggling with happiness , but Raphael's bossy tone brought her back to reality.

"Hurry up Mona."

She quickened. But not enough.

" Come on! Can't you go any faster?"

"I'm going as fast as I can, quit ordering me around!"Pause."Anyway Raphael, where are we going?"

"There's an exit nearby that is very convenient: there are hiding points above in case there's a crowd, and there are several possibilities to return to the lair from here if necessary."

He didn't slow down though. He even seemed to go faster as they approached their exit. They made several quick turns, avoiding obstacles and trash, jumping from a walking path to another above the sewage. Until finally, Raphael rose his hand in a silent order to slow down.

"Here we are." Mona Lisa followed his gaze to the manhole he was staring at. "This manhole will take us to the street behind a restaurant near central park," he lowered his eyes to her level before adding, "I'm going first, wait for my signal."

Mona Lisa had to resist the urge to follow him immediately. She swallowed her saliva, shyly nodded and watched him leave.

She felt nervous down there, in the sewer by herself. Now that Raphael was gone, she felt vulnerable again: every sound, every smell was too strong, too loud. Even her own breath sounded alien.

But there was something that troubled Mona Lisa more than just the environment: A twist of guilt that has been slowly squeezing her heart since she left the lair.

She wanted to go to the surface, she needed to see light and people, to be able to breathe something else than the sewer air. But she left the lair in the middle of the night, alone, and without permission. She had disobeyed the rules she promised Leonardo to follow. She disobeyed Master Splinter. The guilt felt stronger.

_What if someone comes and see me in my room and realize I'm gone? What if Donatello had the camera turned on in his lab and saw me leave? What if master Splinter learnt I disobeyed ? He always said to never go to the surface alone._

Well, she wasn't exactly alone. She was with Raphael. More or less. And speaking of him, why was he so long?

What if he met a group of punks and was attacked? Than she was standing right under it while he needed help! But no, she didn't hear anything that sounded like a fight. Just to be sure though, she placed a hand on the ladder and closed her eyes. No, no vibrations, no motion, no fighting. But no sign of Raphael either. Nothing. Maybe she should go up there and check by herself if the coast was clear. Yes, that was a good idea. Raphael was gone for almost ten minutes now, it was high time she moved.

Just as she made her decision, she detected a new vibration: waves were coming from up the ladder, as if something, or someone, was gently hitting the steel ladder with a thin stick of metal.

She reopened her eyes: Raphael was using his sais to call her.

She firmly gripped the ladder and climbed.

* * *

Cold wind welcomed her. It tickled her face as she peeked at the street, it lingered on her hands when she put them on the ground to climb to the surface. It pierced through her warm clothes, bit her bare skin, pushing a thousand needle into her face, and there she stood, facing the wind in that dark alley, gladly welcoming the chilling breeze.

"Yo Mona Lisa, up there!"

She followed the voice. Raphael was waiting for her on the restaurant's roof. Two or three jumps, and she rejoined him.

"What took you so long ? I was beginning to get worried."

"Sorry I had you waiting down there by yourself, but there were two cooks taking a smoke a couple of meters away. Wouldn't shut up either."

He smiled.

"Now, turn around."

New York. New York in a cold winter night. Beautiful.

"Aren't you cold?"

"Yes, a little bit."

"How about a race?"

"! …." _That was the last thing I expected. Raphael, in the world I come from, when a guy asks you if you're cold, it means he's going to lend you his jacket or better yet, put his arms around you to keep you warm. And you say we do a race? You are without a doubt the strangest guy I have ever met. Or the clueless.  
_"A race?"

"Yes! Nothing better to keep you warm than running. And I bet you never ran on New York's roofs."

_That's_ _true_ " where's the finishing line?"

Raphael took a look around.

"There," he pointed a distant roof with a green and red neon, " or is it too far for you?"

"What are we waiting for?"

Without waiting for his answer, she ran toward the edge of the building and jumped. A leap that could have passed for flying, a roll to absorb her landing and she was back on her feet, running, racing, flying away. Raphael hotfooted after her. Ok, he didn't have a tail to power up his jumps and maybe he wasn't as flexible as her but he had another advantage: he was on his territory.

It took him some effort but he managed to catch up with her, and outran her only a few meters before the finishing line.

Facing each other in the neon light, they didn't say a word as they caught their breathes . Until finally Raphael managed to talk between two pants.

"Wow…You're.. so fast! I would have never imagined that."

"Really?"

" With your pink ribbon, your chats with April and all that girlie stuff, I would have figured you're more the champion sweetheart than the champion itself."

" Sweetheart? You mean, like the sweet little girl type of thing?"

" Mmm… yep!"

Mona Lisa's eyes shined brighter. A cunning smile appeared on her lips.

"Say Raph," she said in a deliberate slow voice, "Have you ever seen a flying mutant?"

"No."

"Well you're about to see one!"

Somersault without standing jump above Raphael, and she off she was again, running.

"Last one to the soda ad is a ninja dropout !" she warned him.

"All right Mona Lisa you asked for it" Raphael mumbled to himself.  
But his face reflected the same smile Mona Lisa showed a couple of seconds earlier.

He joined her. At first, she tried to outdistance him, but then, she waited for him. It was no longer a race. It was a game. Running side by side, they traveled over the town's roofs, only leaving a trail of footsteps in the white snow behind them. Little by little, the game turned into a team work. He would show the way, she would point the best jumps spots. And soon, he would lend her his energy and strength in her aerobatics, see her jump higher than ever, a black angel in the New York sky.

They had passed the ad a long time ago when they finally stopped.

"Mona Lisa, it's time to go home."

Her good mood vanished in a flash.

"Oh no, not already. Five more minutes, please Raphael, just five minutes."

"It's 1:30 am girl and it's bloody freezing, better go home before we catch our death. Don't look so sad," he said when she lowered her eyes with sadness," I'll take you to the surface again, I promise."

"When?"

"Whenever you want."

"Tomorrow?"

He thought for a few seconds.

" Fine, tomorrow" he promised.

When they came back to the lair, Raphael was sure of two things: one was that she would never cease to amaze him, and two, that he would do anything to fulfill his promise.

* * *

_Knock knock_

"Mona Lisaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, it's time to get uuuuuuup!"

The orange-clad turtle opened the door wide, letting the light barge in. Mona Lisa pulled her duvet closer to her face.

"Mrr…"

Ignoring her muffle, he approached her.

"Rise and shine ! it's time for training already! And you don't want to do that with an empty stomach do you?"

"Mikey…" she asked in a sleepy voice, "do you get tired sometimes?"

"Yes! I need my beauty sleep too you know!"

"So how come you're bouncing with energy so early in the morning?"

"What do you mean early? When it's 11 am passed, it can't be morning."

"11 am passed !"

She suddenly sat up.

"What time is it?"

" Before-lunch training minus 10 minutes, you missed morning practice by the way."

"Oh shell !"

Mona Lisa jumped out of bed as if it was on fire, quickly grabbed the first clothes her hand reached and stormed out of the room, leaving a trail of "damn it ! damn it! Damn it!" behind her.

"You missed the first morning training Mona Lisa."

"I know Leo, I'm sorry."

She felt like a kid caught red-handed with her hand inside the cookie jar.

_Curse my good girl education_, she thought.

"Are you ill?"

"No, why ?" She was surprised.

" Our training is rigorous and our rhythm is not a peaceful one. I was concerned it may have been too much for you."

"Leo, I missed the first morning training and I'm sorry. And it's entirely my fault, ok ? So quit worrying."

Leo seemed to think for a minute until he replied;

"I kind of sound like Master Splinter don't I?"

"A little bit."

"…"

"Ok, a lot."

They laughed.

"Good thing you're not sick, otherwise I would have to cancel evening patrol."

"Patrol?" _Could it be_…

"Patrol is when we go outside to train, which eventually ends in fighting."

"Outside ?"

" I knew you'd find this interesting," he said when all traces of tiredness disappeared from her face.

"But is it ok? Last time we talked about it you were…you know, reluctant."

Leo looked a bit ill at ease.

"I was at first. But I have to admit it's been a while since we went outside, we all need a break from the lair. Besides, Master Splinter reminded me we needed to train outside as well, and that includes you."

"Ok."

"So you're in it?"

"Definitely! When do we go?"

"In the evening, " arms still folded, Leo pointed the dojo, "after you caught up with this morning. Master Splinter is waiting for you."

"Oh, right ! Off I go!"

And off she was.

But it was another familiar voice that welcomed her.

"Morning Mona Lisa, slept well ?"

Leaning against the wall next to the entrance, Raphael.

"Morning Raph."

Then in a lower voice,"Raph, guess what ? Leo says we're going to THE SURFACE !"

"I know," he answered on the same ,confidential tone, "who do you think suggested that idea ?"

She clenched her fist in a 'Yes!' gesture.

* * *

**Much later in the evening, on New York's roofs**.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Leo announced, " the name of tonight's game is 'ninjutsu stealth and hiding senses'…"

"Or as we like to call it…" continued Raph

"Hide and seek *!" concluded Mikey.

Don took a look around him and realized everyone had vanished.

"Not again !"

A couple of minutes of jumping, running and searching later, Mona Lisa picked what she thought was the best hiding spot. Not too far nor too close from Donatello, not too far nor too close from the others, she blended perfectly in the shady background but still had enough light to see the others coming, and cherry on top: in case of a real attack, she could escape.

Who said ugly, over-sized roof ads were useless?

She squeezed between two support bars and waited.

Playing hide and seek as part of her ninja training, now that was something. Well, she did have one, no two races with Raphael the night before. It was just as serious.

_All I have to do now is wait_.

But she was getting bored. The game started only seven minutes ago and she was already tired of waiting. She wondered if using vibrations to detect Don's arrival was cheating. But after all, Leo did say the game was ninjutsu stealth and hiding _senses_. So she wasn't _really_ cheating, just making the game more ninja-like.

_If I was a ninja, wounded or not, and I tried to avoid my opponents, I'd like to know if they're approaching_.

With that theory in mind, Mona Lisa closed her eyes and grabbed a metal bar. At first, she only felt the traffic echoing in the metal, and two of the brothers. But then, something else got her attention. It was very weak but…

"I know those steps."

More vibrations. More movement.

"Oh shell!"

Leaving her hiding place, she followed the waves 'direction. Under normal circumstances she would have stayed hidden but that was no longer an option: She localized the source, and the brothers, all four of them now, were going toward it.

Luckily, Leonardo stopped his brothers when he saw her approaching. Just far enough not to be seen.

_That was close_.

"Mona Lisa the purpose of the game is to hide you know, not…"

"Hush guys, keep it down! We're not the only ones on the roofs."

"What do you mean?"

" I felt more vibrations than just ours Don. There are enemies close by. Purple dragons."

"How do you know they're purple dragons?" Raphael asked.

"Because they are the same punks who yelled their heads off and attacked me a couple of weeks ago, right before I met you. Not only did they told their boss about my existence, but they also managed to send the tech ninja back on my track with all their racket they done."

"What are they doing here?"

She shook her head.

"I don't know. What do we do Leo?"

All four looked at the blue leader.

"We go see."

Guided by Mona Lisa, the group headed east. They moved cautiously, silently, from a hiding spot to another. When she felt the purple dragons were only a dozen meter away, Mona Lisa led the way to a taller building. The roof they were now standing on was higher than the purple dragons' underneath.

Half-kneeling, the turtles approached the edge. And they saw them: members of one of the most dangerous gangs in New York city, all of them wearing a purple dragon tattoo. Shoulder, arm, torso, hand, head, it didn't matter. They all had one.

"There's gonna be at least 15 of them!" whispered Michelangelo.

"What are we waiting for? Let's kick some shells!" Raphael replied, taking his sais out.

"No Raph, wait! First, let's hear them."

Raph grumbled but obeyed.

Most of the Purple dragons had weapons: baseball bats, knives, metal bars…nothing we can't face, Leo thought. However Mikey was right, there were many of them. The best way to defeat them would be a surprise attack. But why so many men? And most important, what were they waiting for here? Leo kept wondering as the group seemed to wait. A green-haired guy stood up and walked to a man Leo immediately identified as the leader. Echoes of the conversations reached them.

"Come on let's go, I'm freezing my ass off! "

"We wait for the other group to come report first, these are Hun's explicit orders."

"Why wait?" he put his bat on his shoulder, "we're ready, let's go!"

"You know the orders. If you're not happy with them got tell the boss."

" What's he afraid of? It's just a lone mutant freak with a big tail!"

Donatello felt Mona Lisa next to him was getting more tensed by the minute.

"Come on, what could she do? She's just a freak! Easy to scare, easy to catch."

"You can say that to the men she sent to the hospital last time they tried. From what I heard they just come out."

"They were losers. That's why."

"What about Hun's lieutenant who was with them, you think he's a loser too? Cause he has a broken jaw and two black eyes."

" And did you hear what happened to Pete and Greg ?" said another man, "we found them laying on their backs with their eyes wide open, not moving, and without a single weapon mark. It took them hours to get back to normal."

"I heard about them, they were the first one to meet her."

"And," added the leader, "the last ones who saw her. That's why we sit here and wait stupid! So it won't happen again. If a gang patrol sees her, we go and back it up."

"It's been weeks since anyone saw her! Who knows when that freak will show up?"

"Sooner than you think!"

The green-haired punk raised his head just in time to see a black form swoop down toward him.

And everything went black.

* * *

**Hours later, in the other side of New York:**

« Still no sign of the target ? »

"Team one, two and three have nothing to report Mistress Karai. However, team four discovered something interesting."

"…I'm listening."

The tech ninja pulled out a report.

" During yesterday's search, team four encountered a gang of purple dragons. All seventeen members were down. Heavy fractures for some of them but their lives are not in danger."

"Hun's losses are no concern of mine."

"I know Mistress Karai, but we found this."

He handed her a paper. A paper that was very similar to the one she gave her own men not too long ago.

"What's all the more interesting is that our spies report the purple dragons were defeated by five mutants."

"Five you said?"

"Yes mistress."

Karai was boiling with anger. Yet she showed nothing of it.

"Go now."

The ninja bowed and disappeared as if he never stepped into the room. As soon as he was gone, Karai opened a secured channel on her computer. When her interlocutor appeared on the screen, she let her anger explode.

"I thought we had a deal!"

"_We do my dear. But since it's taking so long for you to honor it, I decided to make the hunt a little more fun_."

"By hiring a man who compromises all my strategies?"

"_On the contrary my dear, I believe competition brings out the best in everyone. Of course since you are now two in the game, the reward will be bigger_."

"It ought to. Since you acted behind my back."

"_You wound me my dear. But you are correct. Let me make it up to you by revealing you something I have not told your competitor. You probably noticed by now that some of your ninjas were found paralyzed, and this paralysis takes hours to heal. Hours you could spend searching for Mona Lisa if…_

"Mona Lisa?"

"_Your target's name dear. As I was saying you're losing precious time because your men end up paralyzed. Wouldn't it be helpful to have a remedy against that_?"

"…..you have a cure against the paralysis ?"

"_Not exactly, but I can show you how and why your men are paralyzed. Mona Lisa destroyed everything we had about her before her escape but we managed to recover this_. _Use it wisely my dear, goodbye._"

Karai barely listened. All her attention was focused on the document she just received. She pushed a button on the board.

"Get Dr. Chaplin here, now."

* * *

**Meanwhile, back in the lair….**

"This is not good" Don concluded as he closed the computer window.

A question had been bothering him for a while now. Ever since they found that tech ninja in the sewers to be more precise. And after hearing the purple dragons, Donatello began to suspect both gangs were facing the same problem.  
And his suspicion was confirmed when he hacked into hospitals and Hun's computer.  
He had a theory of course but… should he tell the others?

_No, not yet_.

For the time being, it was just a theory. He had to prove it before he could share it with his brothers. And he couldn't ask Mona Lisa directly either.

_She'll probably panicked_.

There was only one person who could help him.

Donatello dialed a number. It was still early in the morning but his friend answered, and a few seconds later, a familiar face appeared on the computer screen.

"I hope I'm not disturbing you Leatherhead."

"Donatello my friend, you know I always enjoy our chats. Even if you call at indecent hours." He responded with a low chuckle.

"I need your scientific opinion on this."

Leatherhead immediately recovered his serious professor look as Donatello sent him a document . The bo staff turtle saw his friend receive, open and read the report. There was a long silence, with a "mm" from time to time.

"This is interesting Donatello, very interesting"

" All the subjects you see here are purple dragons. I know there are similar cases in the Foot but I couldn't hack into Karai's computer. What puzzles me is the mark you see on their necks and shoulders: what could do such marks? And how?"

"Mm…. All right Donatello, before we jump to conclusion here's what you're going to do."

* * *

* Season 3, episode 11: New Blood (for those who wish to verify)

Chapter 8 is ready, chapter 9 is in good progress, but I won't post number 8 if i don't get comments ;-D (evil laugh)


	8. Chapter 8: Revelations

Voice in the dark, Revelations

**Author's little note**: I rewrote this chapter three times ! It looked so nice last time I checked and when i rode it again, I was like "What ? I can't publish that!" Anyway, here comes Mona Lisa's transformation revealed! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

"Atchi!"

Mona Lisa quickly rubbed her finger under her nose.

"Sorry," she said when she caught Leo's glance.

"You alright?" The blue-clad turtle put down the sword he had carefully polished all morning and approached the young girl.

"I think I caught a cold because of yesterday."

"That's what happens when you fight in the snow, "he put his hand on her forehand, "no apparent fever but you should go and see Don."

"How come you're not sick?"

"I have no idea." He said with a nonchalant smile.

"Atchi!"

"You know with what we faced yesterday you could have worse than just a cold."

"I guess. Atchi!"

"Go and see Don. He's the closest being we have to a doctor."

"It still doesn't tell me why I'm ill and you're not."

"Go and see Don Mona Lisa. That's an order."

"All right, all right," she answered with her eyes and hands rose in a fake exasperated gesture.

"But," Leonardo added as Mona Lisa was heading for the scientist lab," I saw what you did yesterday and…I was impressed."

"I saw what YOU did. And … I was impressed too."

She sounded sincere.

"She really is beautiful," he said to himself when she was gone.

There are days like this when you have the feeling that no matter how hard you pray, you know everyone is going to make your day crazy. And this was one of those days for Donatello: Michelangelo managed to break the microwave first thing in the morning, the remote control "accidently" escaped Raphael's hand soon afterwards, a surveillance camera decided to cease functioning somewhere during the night and now something went wrong with the experiment he was conducting: the test tube was supposed to be a pale blue and it somehow turned out brown. BROWN! A million color degree from blue! Why couldn't anything go right this morning?

Furious, Donatello pushed his chair away from the chemistry table back to his computer. Checking the formula Leatherhead sent him in the early morning, the brown-green turtle mentally went through the experiment steps in the search of his mistake. Luckily, it didn't take long before he realized what he did wrong.

He grunted. He forgot an ingredient. Stupid mistake. ROOKIE mistake. Not to mention he did not have the necessary ingredient in his lab and that the quickest way to obtain it was to go to the surface. But with all the things his brothers left him to repair, there was little chance he would have the time. His mood didn't get better when he reached his coffee mug and realized it was empty. And now there was that sneezing noise that seemed to get closer.

_Great Michelangelo, what did you do again? _"I heard you coming before you even walked in," Donatello greeted his visitor.

"Good morning Donatello, I too am happy to see yo- Atchi!"

"Oh," realizing it wasn't his clumsy brother, Donatello turned around, "you alright?"

"Of course I am. I just sneeze for the pleasure of making noise."

"Sarcasm."

"No kidding."

"Cold?"

"I think so."

"You want me to check?"

"Or I can come back later if you're busy. Atchi!"

"I think I better take a look. Beside," Donatello checked his calendar, "it's time for your health check." He pointed a long, white chair, the kind of furniture Mona Lisa always saw at medical practice, "make yourself comfortable."

The weekly health check, or reptile observation in the sewer environment as Mikey called it (for once he used smart words) was a routine Donatello installed for Mona Lisa: each week, he checked if she was recovering from her ordeals in the New York streets. As instructed, Mona Lisa sat on the medical furniture.

"What were you working on?"

"Just a little experiment," he answered as he checked her heart with a stethoscope," I needed a break from repairing; my brothers were worried I had too much free time so they broke a few things to keep me busy."

"Like what?"

Donatello reached for a tensiometer.

"Give me your arm," he put the stethoscope end on the arm she was giving him and wrapped the tensiometer around it, "did you hear the explosion this morning around 8 am?"

She nodded, "it was what woke me up."

"It was Mikey killing the microwave."

"Oookayyy."

"And did you hear the scream two minutes later?"

"Yes…"

"It was Raph killing Mikey. He threw the remote control at him when he ran out of shurikens. Your tension is good by the way." Donatello announced.

He removed the tensiometer and got up. Mona Lisa watched him walk to the infirmary, open a cupboard, and return a few seconds later with a syringe and a rubber band.

"I need to take a blood sample."

Mona Lisa looked away. She felt the scientist tie strongly the rubber band around her arm, and remained emotionless as the needle entered her arm. A few seconds passed.

"Does it hurt?"

"No."

"There, finished." Donatello took the band off the young girl and carefully placed the blood sample in a small cool box on the table.

"See? That wasn't so hard."

"I'm not a kid Don. This was not my first blood test."

"You can say that to Mikey," he answered as he placed the sample in another machine, "We have to knock him out each time I need to make a blood sample of him. Otherwise he kicks like a mule. Almost gave Leo a black eye once."

"And when was that ? When he was 10?"

"Actually, that was three months ago." He laughed with her , "I'm going to run a scan. Lay down and don't move please."

Mona Lisa obeyed: She lifted her legs on the furniture, laid down and remained motionless as Donatello set the machine. The medical table slowly moved inside the scan. Mona Lisa was always amazed by the engines Donatello had in his lab: the scan she was in would have made every hospital in the continent green with envy. The first time they ran this test, she asked him where he found a scan like this. Donatello's answer was simple: "I built it."

He then explained; "I'm an engineer, not a doctor. I studied everything I could find on turtle and human anatomy but my knowledge is only theoretical. Therefore, the best remedy we have against illness is prevention. My brothers and I retrieved this old scan from an abandoned hospital. Instead of dismantling it, I repaired and upgraded it a bit."

"How so?"

"I defined a new set of parameters based on us: each time I run a scan on one of my brothers, this little baby automatically tells me if something is wrong, and where. And based on what it tells me, I have a theory of what needs to be done."

"Is it going to work on me?"

"Let's find out."

She now had her answer. The machine scanned her entire body week after week, giving her better news about her health each time.

"Mm…"

"What is it Donatello?"

"Don't move. Take a deep breath. Good," he said, "good news is that pneumonia is definitely off the list, and it's a miracle in your case. A year in the streets and a dive into the sea in February could have triggered pneumonia. And it's a risk you don't want to take."

"Is that why you keep scanning me each week?"

"Yes, it takes a while for pneumonia to reveal itself and yesterday's battle could have been it. But judging from what I see, you're in great shape."

"So what do I have?"

"As I just said your lungs were not affected by yesterday's exercise, so it's nothing serious. Your throat however looks a bit soar," he added," Frankly, it's just a little cold. The type of illness humans get every winter, nothing to worry about."

"Ok."

"But," he told her as she was exiting the scan, "do not forget that as cold blood, we are very sensitive to cold temperatures. So I strongly advise you remain in the lair until your cold disappear."

"Monaaaaaaaaaa Lisaaaaaaaaa!"

Something jumped on her back.

"Arg!"

"You want to play a video game with me? Yes you do! Please! Please! Please play with me!"

"Mikey! Can't you see we're talking?" scolded his brother

"Dude, come on! Your conversations are boooooooriiiiiiiing!"

"It's serious Mikey, Mona Lisa is ill."

"Then stop giving her a headache with your clap-trap! Come on Mona Lisa! Let's play!"

"But Mikey wait…" she said as the turtle with the orange bandana dragged her to the exit, "I'm not…"

"You don't want to play? You don't like video games ? Oh wait, I get it: you're too tired because you're sick is that it?"

"No Mikey, I… Mikey, don't give me the puppy eyes."

" Mona Lisa ! Leo is too busy with his swords, Raph wants me dead and Don never plays before training. Please ?"

She sighted.

"But I don't know how to play."

Mikey's mind interpreted her answer as a yes and a wide smile immediately formed on his face.

"Then I'll teach you!" He took her by the hand and headed for the exit, "you coming Don ? I know you have plenty of stuff to do but you're not going to spend your entire morning trapped in the lab, are you ?"

"Go ahead. I'll be there in a minute."

And once they were out;

"First, I have blood to analyze."

* * *

Mona Lisa wasn't exactly a beginner in video games, she played with her little brother more than once, but she wasn't an advanced player either. Unlike Michelangelo: if he ever competed in a video game tournament, he would certainly win hands down. However, thanks to his advice Mona Lisa guided her warrior through the game until her character was swallowed by the first game boss .

"Not bad," Mikey congratulated, " how about a second round?"

"Excellent idea for once."

Mona Lisa and Mikey turned around to see a very angry Raphael approach them.

"I knew you'd come out of your hiding spot Mikey! Now come here and get your punishment !"

"Come one Raph," he pleaded, "it was just a little explosion…"

"I don't care if your play with hero figurines Mikey, but when you decide to put them in the microwave to see what happens and EXPLODE the thing, I DO care ! Especially if it turns the figurines into missile !" He pointed the bump on his forehead.

_That explains a lot_, Mona Lisa thought.

Mikey moved behind her.

"You're not going to kill me in front of Mona Lisa, are you?"

"Stop hiding behind our guest and come here !"

Raphael tried to go round the couch, but his brother was faster than him and quickly got out of reach. Mikey suddenly stopped running and raised his finger in a "I got a solution" gesture.

"Wait ! I got it! How about we settle this with a video game ? If you win, I get my punishment and if I win, you let me go for this one, ok?"

Raphael was boiling.

"You don't want to hurt my baby blue eyes in front of Mona Lisa, right?" he whispered.

"You playing with fire Mikey," he answered on the same tone, then louder, "I pick the game."

"Dude, no way!"

"Then the deal is off."

"Fine…"

Raphael rummaged through the different games:

"no…no…nope….definitely no… This one," he pulled a cartridge out, "Mona Lisa, can you give me your joystick please?"

She handed him the joystick and moved slightly on the left to give him enough space to sit on the couch. The first images of MORTAL KOMBAT appeared on the TV screen.

"Dude, tell me you're joking. Did you forget last time we played ? I killed you!"

"That was last time Mikey. I trained since then."

" Oh yeah ? And with whom ?"

"That would be with me."

Leonardo calmly sat in a nearby chair. Mikey let out a mocking laugh.

"With Leo ? Raph come _on, _there's no way you're going to defeat me."

"Is that a challenge ?"

"No bro, it's a fact."

It was a funny thing to witness: Mikey and Raph solving this morning's crisis by simulating a fight thanks to a video game, so focused their tongues were stuck out, and Mona Lisa and Leo cheering for them. When Donatello found them, he thought they all look like a family playing MORTAL KOMBAT like this.

This was perfect; since they all focused on the game, he would have time to make his call. Donatello carefully glanced above his shoulder to check no one was watching him and dialed a number on the machine that served both as a common computer and as a video telephone. He didn't want to hide anything from his brother but there was something about Mona Lisa's medical exam that bothered him a bit. Donatello put his headphone and micro on to reduce what the others could hear.

"Hello April (…) Fine. Hum, April could you run an errand for me please ? (…) no I can't have it delivered at your apartment, it's about Mona Lisa and it's quite urgent actually (…) no, no, don't worry, Mona Lisa's fine (…) yes, I promise she's fine, judge by yourself."

He pushed his chair away, revealing the intense video game contest to the camera.

"See? She's fine (…) I need to check something; I need you to find a plant for me (…) no it's not dangerous or anything of the sort, it's a plant you can find either at a flower or at a pet shop. And judging by Google map, you have both in your block (…)April ,"he lowered his voice, «I'd rather you didn't tell anyone about this, I don't want to worry Mona Lisa for nothing (….) like I said, I need to check, but I don't want to jump to conclusion (…)Thank you April (…) Yes, I'll let you know (..)Later. "

Donatello hung up just in time to hear the cries of victories and defeat from his brothers. Apparently, Raph had won but all traces of anger had vanished from his face. He was talking with Mikey as if nothing happened, and was even talking normally with Leo. What were they talking about ? Oh yes, a day patrol they'll do in the afternoon. One Mona Lisa will have to pass.

_She'll get over it, _Donatello thought as he joined them.

After all, April was coming to see them this afternoon wasn't she ?

* * *

It was late in the afternoon when the turtles returned to the lair: They wanted to come back sooner but Raph crushed a snow ball on Mikey's head and soon the fight became general. Not to mention they all agreed to make a detour...

"Hey guys"

"Casey!"

Casual as usual, but nonetheless their friend, Casey rose his strong body from his seat to greet them. He first hit Raphael's punch with his own to say hi, then shook the other brothers' hands; it was always Leo in second, Don in third place, and he finished with Mikey.

"When did you arrive?" Leonardo asked

"About an hour ago, but you guys weren't home yet. What's in the bag ?" He said, referring to the brown paper bag Donatello was holding.

"A little something we picked for Mona Lisa on the way home. Is April with you?"

"Yup."

Mikey took a look around.

"Where is she?"

"With Mona Lisa."

"Where?"

Casey let out a little smile; "You are never going to believe this."

"COOKIES!" Mikey happily shouted.

The smell was all over the place. In a few seconds the kitchen was invaded and as Casey said, April and Mona Lisa were there along with Master Splinter.

"Any white-chocolate chip cookies in there?" Said Don as he searched in the jar

"Of course not. I'm not going to make cookies you like, otherwise it wouldn't be fun. "Mona ironically answered.

"How did you know that…oh, I see" he said as Mona pointed April.

"I want one ! I want one!"

"Mikey, you said one, not the whole jar!" laughed April.

Raphael observed Mona Lisa. There was something different about her but he wasn't sure what. She was still the same, but she seemed changed, happier. It took him several seconds to find out.

"Mona Lisa, did you cut your hair?"

All eyes turned in her direction. Now that Raph mentioned it, they found her hair was different: it was a bit shorter, and nicely done. The ends were obviously cut, and the rest treated. All traces of dirt had vanished. Mona Lisa looked as if she just left the hairdresser.

And it wasn't just her hair. Her face seemed to have received the same treatment: she looked completely rested and relaxed, and her eyebrows were nicely arched.

Mona Lisa nodded and said, "It's thanks to April."

"_Ou la la_"

"Mikey…" but she was smiling.

Mikey tongued each syllable, "Honestly, you look great."

"While you guys were away," April put her hands on Mona Lisa's shoulders, "I decided it was high time I did something about that hair. There was no way she could continue walking around with a head like this."

"So she took care of it," Mona Lisa happily concluded.

"And when there was nothing left to take care of, we decided to bake cookies," April added.

"We can take care of her as well," said Leonardo, and to his brother, "Donatello?"

All the brothers had a wide smile as Donatello handed the bag to Mona Lisa.

"Here, it's for you." He proudly announced.

"What is it?" She opened the bag and without looking inside, plunged her hand into it. Her fingers met a soft and thick fabric she identified as wool. Mona Lisa opened the bag a bit wider and pulled out a pink wool scarf with a matching bonnet. She hold them carefully as if she was afraid to damage them, the two items were of a light pink, with a darker pink flower on the hat. Mona Lisa guessed they were hand-made. And they were so beautiful. She whispered "wow" and softly caressed the scarf.

"It's beautiful… Thank you," she said, looking each and every one of the turtles, "thank you so much."

"It's too make sure you don't get cold when you'll come outside with us again. And also because we thought it would look nice on you," said Mikey with his mouth full of cookies.

"I… I don't know what to say… thank you!"

She hugged them all.

"I'll put it away and I be right back!"

She left the kitchen, the woolen items still held against her heart and a huge smile drawn on her face.

"That was a very nice thing you did my sons." _And I'm very proud of you_.

"It was Leo's idea," said Mikey as he handed a cookie plate to his Master. "We first wanted to take a yellow one, but Raph insisted we take pink instead."

"Oh really?" the old rat selected a dark chocolate chip cookie and took a small bite.

"I didn't insist Mikey. I just pointed out that pink would suit her better since she always wears something pink."

"Oh so you noticed that kind of detail didn't you ?" Casey teased him. Then to everyone; "With your gift and everything we brought her, her life in the streets will soon be nothing but a bad memory."

"What kinds of things did you bring?"

"Oh you know Leo; shampoo, a new hairbrush, a bit of make-up, everything a girl needs to have. Everything a _normal_ girl needs to have." April insisted on the adjective.

"I see."

" Hum, April? What about the thing I asked?"

" It's in your lab."

Two phone calls to Leatherhead, a couple of muffled curse and three broken test tubes later:

"Here Mona, drink this."

Mona Lisa interrupted her chess game with Leonardo to take the glass the olive-green turtle was offering.

"What is this Donatello?"

"Nothing, just medicine."

"I thought you said I was alright." She raised the glass to her eyes level, "and I don't recall ever seeing medicine that have this clear blue color."

"You are alright. It's just a vitamin cocktail to boost your immune system, and that peculiar color is because the cocktail is made to match your metabolism. It's completely harmless."

"Oh, ok."

She drank.

"Mm, it tastes good."

"I'll bring the glass back," said Donatello, "You'll find Leonardo is easy to defeat once you get his tactics." He added after taking a quick peek at the board

"Thank you Don," grumbled the concerned turtle.

Mona Lisa thanked him and returned to her game. It was Leo's turn to play. Whoever won would pass tonight's chores to the other, and she really wanted to win: tonight it was her turn to do the dishes. Donatello knew it, he invented that rule a couple of years ago when he played with Mikey. Maybe it was because he was thinking about the past that he noticed too late his brother Raphael had followed him to his lab.

"You want to tell me what was in that glass?"

Bossy tone, arms folded, hazel eyes growing gold. Lying equals immediate beating.

"I didn't lie to her Raph, the beverage is harmless."

"What was in it? It wasn't just vitamins, was it?"

Voice strong yet low so as to not to be heard, eyebrows frowned.

_He's worried_."Something about her medical test result attracted my eyes. There was something I needed to check. Before you intervene, no, I did not use her cold as an excuse to guinea pig her. On the contrary, if my hypothesis is correct, we should be able to improve her health very soon."

"So she is ill?"

"Not in the sense she thinks. Her body crucially lacks some minerals and vitamins and inevitably, it triggered a diminution of her immune system. Therefore, she caught a cold. But what worries me is that judging by the health report I concluded, she's been like this for a long time."

Raphael kept his arms folded and didn't lower his eyes. Yet, his voice grew calmer, even softer and the golden ring in his eyes had disappeared.

"Do you have a theory?"

"Yes and I don't like it."

"She was tortured?"

"Yes and no. The best explanation I have so far is starvation. She received very little food for too long."

Raphael did not answer. He slightly lowered his eyes and nodded. This in his language meant both an apology and an invitation to return to a peaceful discussion.

"So what do we do?"

"Don't worry bro, I know someone who will be able to give us all the answers we need. Tell the others to join me in the lab as soon as possible. Get Master Splinter as well, but don't tell Mona Lisa."

Raphael obeyed. When the chess game was over, brothers and master met up in Donatello's lab. As smart and brilliant as he was, Donatello had to explain to his family he needed a bit of help. That's why he took the liberty to invite Leatherhead, and he was on his way here as they spoke.

"Why is he coming for exactly?"

"I told you Raph, I want Mona Lisa to be as healthy as can be. And it would be easier if we knew of what species she is. We know she's a cold blood, but the absence of a shell tells us she's not a turtle. We all assumed she was a lizard because of her tail, but judging by the health report I mentioned earlier there's something else in her."

"Like what?" inquired Leonardo.

"Do you remember when we found that tech ninja in the sewers? He had an odd mark on his neck. The same mark can be found on purple dragons and tech ninjas alike. It seems that every time one group encountered Mona Lisa, a few members received this strange mark. You know like me that she was the one who inflicted those marks."

"Yes but how?"

"She bit them Leonardo. Mona Lisa bit them to the blood."

"You mean like a vampire?"

"More like a snake Mikey. Mona Lisa's mutated DNA is far from being the result of just one mutation. She has at least two reptilian DNA mixed with her own, the two dominant being lizard," he took a deep breath, "and sea snake."

"So you mean?"

He nodded "She poisoned them."

There was a bothering silence.

"Also, the vitamin cocktail I gave her is based on a plant that is particularly favored by snakes. It is widely used by vets and biologists in nature reserves. This beverage would be undrinkable to us, even dangerous, but she drank all of it and even said it tasted good. Not to mention all traces of a cold vanished within the hour."

Donatello replaced the health report on his desk and looked at his brothers square in the eyes.

"Mona Lisa is result of a mutation between human, lizard, and sea snake. She therefore has the capacity to detect all living beings around her thanks to the vibrations they send out, and the ability to poison preys and predators with fangs. " he concluded

The embarrassment was almost palpable now. Only Leonardo found the energy to speak.

"You're wrong."

"He's right."

All five of them turned around. No one heard her approach, and Mona Lisa was now standing in the door frame. Yet, she stood slightly set back as if she hoped to disappear and escape the five pairs of eyes staring at her. Leonardo thought she offered the very vision of sadness and shame.

"Mona Lisa, how long have you been here?" The old rat was almost whispering.

"Long enough."

No one said anything. No one knew what to say. Until…

"Can you tell us what happened?" Master Splinter asked.

Mona Lisa swallowed. She was trembling.

"Please Mona ? We want to understand."

Slowly, almost imperceptibly, Mona Lisa nodded.

She let Master Splinter take her hand, and guide her to a nearby chair. She felt the brother's gazes on her as if they were lasers.

She stared at the ground. And she remembered.

"Not so long ago, I used to be a regular college student in physics major…

"_Yes! Final exams are finally over! I'm so glad."_

_Mona Lisa gladly dropped her bag near her chair and let out a brief, happy sight as she sat in the seat her friends had saved for her in the coffeehouse. _

"_Were you seriously worried about the finals?"_

"_Believe it or not Anthony, yes I was. Double latte please," she asked the waiter who approached their table. _

_Anthony shook his head in disbelief and took another sip of his espresso. Mona Lisa and he competed for the first place in finals since their first year in college. To this day the score was equal. Who knows? Maybe this term would assert his victory once and for all. Mona Lisa gently smiled at her friend; even if they were supposed to celebrate the end of their third college year on this beautiful afternoon , she knew what Anthony was thinking about as if he spoke aloud. Who would have expected to find so much competition in this boy who never outgrew his first of the class look? From the outside, Anthony was exactly what he looked like: a student. _

"_Please remind me what it is your are competing for?" asked John, the third element of the trio._

_Unlike the two others, John was not in physics major. He was an outsider to their college, and Mona Lisa's neighbor in the building where they both rented their studios. Black of hair, eyes and skin, the most striking feature in him was his voice: a deep, low, strong voice that caught everyone's ear when he talked. He could have been an opera singer. He wanted to be an architect._

"_The winner gets coffee for life. Thank you," she said as the waiter brought her coffee._

"_What?"_

"_The winner gets a free drink at Starbucks," translated Anthony, "and you can always dream," he told Mona Lisa._

"_Whatever," was her reply._

_There was a short pause where they all enjoyed their coffees, until John asked THE question._

"_So, what are your plans for the summer? Anthony?" _

"_First, there's a party at my girl's place tonight. You two are invited by the way, and then, I'm going home. Summer job start next week."_

"_What about your girlfriend?" Mona Lisa teased him_

"_She's coming with me. I'm going to introduce Kathy to my parents." The end of his ears flushed a bit and he hid in his empty espresso cup._

"_I'm staying in New York. My parents are coming to visit me for the summer," John proudly announced._

"_You seriously think your parents and your two sisters are going to fit in your studio?"_

"_No, they'll be staying at my uncle's," he told her. _

"_What about you Mona Lisa? Are you going back home for the summer?"_

"_I'm not sure," grumbled the young girl in her cup._

_Anthony regretted speaking too fast. If Mona Lisa went back to her parent's house for the summer, it meant she will have to see Maxwell again. The young girl broke her engagement with him the day she learnt she was going to New York and Maxwell never fully recovered. He harassed her with this engagement thing each time she went back home. Anthony knew about that: Mona Lisa and he were from the same town. And he was Maxwell's neighbor. _

"_If you have nothing planned yet, how about a boat trip?" John quickly added John when he felt her trouble._

"_A boat trip?"_

"_My uncle said I could borrow his boat for the week end. Think about it: spending a nice Friday afternoon fishing, far away from pollution and noise. Doesn't it sound nice?"_

"_Can I bring Kathy?"_

"_Kathy is more than welcome aboard Anthony. How about you Mona Lisa?"_

"_Mmmm… it sure sounds good," she slowly nodded._

"So you all left?"

Mona Lisa slowly shook her head in a "no" gesture and said;

"In the end it was just the three of us. Kathy couldn't come."

_Mona Lisa was late, something she hated. But it wasn't her fault. Well, not entirely her fault: it took her forever to decide what to wear; she tried two jeans and a skirt before deciding to wear her pink summer dress. Then she couldn't find her handbag and didn't have the time to look for it. She opened her wardrobe and grabbed the first bag her hand reached; sport bag. Perfect. She quickly put her camera, jacket and sunglasses in it, took her car keys and left her studio. It was 10:30am; they were supposed to meet at 10. _

"_Damn it!" _

_She hoped the traffic would be ok._

_It wasn't._

_She thought John was going to kill her when she finally arrived._

"_What took you?" _

_(I forgot to set my alarm clock and couldn't do a thing correctly all morning) "I was stuck in traffic" she said._

"_Well, you're pretty lucky. Another ten minutes and we would have left without you." He hold out a hand, "welcome aboard."_

_Mona Lisa accepted the hand John was offering and climbed. She took a look around._

"_Nice boat. Anthony, where's Kathy?" she said when she saw him_

"_Huh, she can't come. She says she's sorry. She has a problem with her college administration and said she wanted to deal with it before the week end." _

"_Too bad."_

"If I had known, I would have arrived later," she smiled, but there was no sign of happiness, "Maybe that way no one would have been hurt…"

"And then what happened?"

"We left the harbor, found a nice place to drop anchor, and started fishing. Everything was going so well…" her voice dropped.

"Mona Lisa," repeated Leo in a softer voice, "who did this to you?"

A tear rolled on her cheek.

"Our boat was boarded. By someone called Captain Filch." She was doing her best not to cry.

"Captain Filch? The pirate?" Don was very surprised.

"Who is this man, my son?"

"He's a wanted criminal in most countries who have an access to the sea. His specialties are attacking cargo and rich cruise ships. The authorities have a hard time catching him because he flees in his sub before anyone can approach him. His attack on Mona Lisa and her friends is a first: he never got so close to the coasts before."

"My… my friends managed to escape," she continued, "but I was taken prisoner aboard his sub."

"Why?"

It was the first time Raphael spoke since she began her narration.

"It seems that attacking cruise ship is not as profitable as it was before, so he switched to hostage taking."

"Son of a bi-"

"Raphael!"

Raphael mumbled a "sorry master splinter".

"So he was hoping to trade you for money is that it?"

She nodded to Leo's question.

"I think it was his plan at first. But when he learnt of background in physics he tried to convince me to help him: he planned to control the world through hi-tech piracy."

_Typical of all bad guys_, thought Mikey, "so what did you do?"

"I played along, hoping to be able to stop is evil plan."

"Smart girl," Mikey gave her a wink.

"And when he discovered you deceived him, he turned you into a mutant is that it?"

"Yes and no master Splinter. One night, I snuck down to the lab determined to destroy it.. But something went wrong: By destroying the power generator, I destroyed a canalization regulated by its energy. I was caught in a backwash from the sub's nuclear power source and became the grotesque creature I am today. No offense."

"None taken." Leonardo assured her.

"I have a question: if the water was from a nuclear power source, how did it turn you into a reptile?"

"Little known fact about Captain Filch Donatello, is that he has mutants aboard his sub. They serve as his crew, henchmen, body guards, everything. I'm not sure how he did it, but he used nuclear energy to speed up their mutations. It's just a theory, but I believe the backwash I was caught in and the amniotic fluid they were raised in were stocked in the same place. As a result, when the pipeline broke I was contaminated by the mutagenic fluid and the nuclear energy that remained in the water intensified its effect." She looked at her webbed hands, "And now I look like this."

A tear fell on her hand. Then another. And another one. Mona Lisa lowered her head even more.

"I'm sorry I lied.. I'm sorry.."

The two brothers, red and blue, resisted the urge to take the crying young girl in their arms. They angrily stared at each other, both knowing what the other had the same idea in mind. Ignoring the tension between them, Michelangelo left his seat and moved next to Mona Lisa. He put his own arms around her in a reassuring gesture.

"Please don't cry Mona Lisa. I hate to see you sad."

She sobbed. She couldn't speak.

"Mona Lisa, what you did was extraordinary. Very few would have had the courage to do what you did. You defeated him, even though you were a prisoner. And most important: you are still alive."

"Alive yes, but at what cost," she took another look at her hands, "Master Splinter look at me."

" He's right," Mikey took her chin and turned her head in his direction, "you're alive, that's miracle number one, and you're with us! That's another miracle. And you know what the best part is ? You have four knights in shiny armors to protect you now."

"We are ninjas my son."

"All right, four ninjas in slightly used shells to protect you, Oh princess Mona Lisa! And a rat too."

"So please Mona Lisa, dry your tears."

She was already wiping them.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Mikey took her face in her hands and said "please smile? I want to see that smile that drives us nuts back ." She tried.

The tension seemed to evaporate slowly from the atmosphere.

"Now," resumed Donatello, "about that report: you really need vitamins Mona Lisa. Otherwise, next time you go outside you're going to be sick again. But I'm puzzled as what to give you. The plant in itself won't be enough."

"I know I'm sick. I know you're doing your best Donatello. And I know that the fact that I'm…you know, doesn't help. But I can't walk into a vet's house and ask him to help me right?"

"Who said anything about a vet?"

Donatello left the room and returned with a ten feet crocodile his family had no problem identifying.

"Mona Lisa, meet Leatherhead."

She looked up and down, and up again, and said "wow."

Leonardo nodded. Once again, Donatello's idea was brilliant: With the help of Leatherhead, no doubt the problem will be dealt with in no time. The blue-clad turtle felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Leonardo, let us go outside for a while," Splinter whispered.

Without a word, Leonardo followed his master. Now that Leatherhead was here, Donatello, Mona Lisa will probably start working right ahead, so there was no reason for him to stay.

When they could no longer hear Mikey's voice, Master Splinter stopped and said;

"There is something I need of you my son."

"Yes Master Splinter?"

" I want you to help Mona Lisa. She entrusted us with her story as well as her life, it is a remarkable sign of trust in both cases. We have to make sure we can keep her trust."

"What do you want me to do Master?"

"I want you to listen to her."

"What?"

"Why do you sound so surprised? I can ask one of your brothers if you…"

"NO! I mean… sure I'll do as you say but… just listening doesn't sound very helpful. Can't I do more?"

"Listening is more important than you may think my son. She'll feel more confident and eventually, start enjoying life again. Talking is the first step to reconstruction, but for that step to be complete there's got to be someone to listen."

"I understand Master. I will do as you say."

Master and student bowed to each other.

None of them noticed the shadow that moved away.

Raphael entered the dojo and went straight to the punching bag. He didn't bother to take out his sais. He wanted to hit something and feel his muscles exorcise the anger in his heart.  
Leonardo, again and always. The perfect student, the prodigal son, the fearless leader was now going to be Mona Lisa' support. And with Master Splinter's blessing. How could he so soon forget Leonardo's first feelings toward her? But now… Now it's almost as if Leonardo himself forgot all about it. Raphael thought about how much he hated to see Mona Lisa cry, how much he wanted to wipe her tears away. But the look in his brother's eyes when he caught him… As if Leonardo was daring him to move. Just thinking about it was enough to make him punch harder.

There was a bad taste in his mouth. A taste of sadness, bitterness and anger. So close to hatred. It was flowing in his veins, fueling his mind and body. It was pounding violently in his heart. And it was all he could think about.

Don was taking care of her health, and even called Leatherhead for help.

Leo was perfect in his Leader role.

Mikey made her smile.

April and Casey, but mostly April, brought her stuff to make her feel normal.

Master Splinter always found the words she needed to hear.

And HE didn't do anything to help. He was just….him.

He wanted to go back to yesterday and make every purple dragon they fought swallow their words.

He wanted to put his hands around Karai's neck and squeeze it until that bitch choked to death.

He wanted to find the bastard who turned Mona Lisa into a mutant and slash his body to ribbons.

He wanted revenge.

He wanted blood.


	9. Chapter 9: Kiss

Author's little note: Since I started this story, i had one major question in mind; who was Mona Lisa ? What type of girl was she ? And mostly, was she the kind of girl Raphael would fall for ? Not an easy question to answer, i was afraid i depicted her too brutal or too sassy. But guess what ? here it is ! Here it is ! The moment you've all been waiting for !

Whisper in the dark, kiss

Three days ago:

"April, have you seen Raph?"

"He left a while ago, I 'm not sure where he went though."

"Oh…."

_She looks so disappointed_. " Tell me Mona Lisa, did something happen between you and Raph?"

" Is that really obvious?"

" I was just asking. I know he's not much of a speaker but I got the impression…"

" That he was avoiding me? Yes, I felt it too."

" Did you fight?"

"I wish. It would make things so much easier: At least I'd know why he doesn't talk to me. We finally managed to speak to normally but now we're back to the same state as when I moved in. He's even more reserved than before. "

" So he hasn't spoken to you for the last few days for no reason?"

"Oh, I know why he doesn't talk to me."

April frowned but said nothing.

"It's because of my origins. Knowing you're sharing your sewer with a girl who has snake genes would freak anyone out."

" Wait wait wait: the guy is a mutant turtle, he battled gangs, ninjas, other mutants and even aliens, he travelled through space and time, and he would be mad at you because of your DNA?"

" I know it sounds crazy but I have no other explanation!"

Tonight, Mona Lisa wanted an answer. She only spoke of her problem to April, but despite her generosity, there was not much the ginger human girl could do. So it was time Mona Lisa acted about it.

_But I wonder if asking for an explanation at this hour of the night when everyone went to bed is a good idea_, Mona Lisa thought.

Nevertheless, she knocked on Raphael's door.

"Raphael ? It's me, Mona Lisa. Can I come in?"

No answer.

She knocked again.

No answer.

_He's probably sleeping already_. " Please Raphael, I just got a question to ask you."

_Why won't you speak to me? Why won't you look at me ? Do I disgust you now? Your brothers' behaviors did not change, only yours did. Why ? _

"Raphael, _**please**_." _I'm not just a mutant.._

She didn't mean to sound so wimping but she couldn't help it.

_Look at me_.

_Look at me_.

_Look at me now_.

"Fine."

Mona Lisa lifted her hear up in a sudden move. Being nice didn't work? She had other methods.

"Have it your way than. I too can be annoying."

Knowing what she was about to do was very stupid, she opened the door, stepped into the room and slammed the door behind her.

"I hate being ignored!"

She expected his anger, his fury, even curses, anything but this: nothing.

The room was empty. Raphael was gone. And if he was gone, there was only place he could be: outside.

"No way!"

There was no way she was going to stay here while he was out there. Mona Lisa rushed to her room to put on the few clothes she owned, and headed for the exit. Remembering Raphael's instructions, she stayed close to the wall to avoid Don's cameras and searched for the exit they used last time.

Mona Lisa almost regretted her decision when the wind coldly welcomed her the moment she got outside.

_Where could he be ?_

She blew warm air into her hands and rubbed them together.

_Gosh it's freezing ! Why didn't his brothers notice he was gone and looked for him ? Oh yeah, I remember; because he never listens to them. What a hothead. _

She searched in her pockets; no gloves. Of course.

_Let's find him and go back to the lair as quickly as possible_.

She took a good look around her. The roofs showed her nothing but their plains surfaces under the cold moon. Nothing to tell her where he could have gone to.

Easier said than done.

"Chin up, nose up, let's go." She told herself.

There he was; in that dark alley below, fighting a group of… What were they anyway ? No foot uniform, no dragon tattoo, ok, just a group of street idiots. Nothing he could not defeat. She watched him fight two guys at once; he knocked the first one unconscious, disarmed the second one and threw at him a combination of kicks and punches the human could not withstand.

"Raph, give it a rest you won already." She whispered to herself.

But Raphael did not stop; the more his enemy was falling under his strength, the harder hammered at him, and when Raphael raised his sais…

"Raph, don't !"

She jumped in the alley and blocked his weapon just in time. Mona Lisa heard the man behind her faint, and Raphael yelling at her one second later.

"What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question Raph."

"You're not supposed to be here! It's dangerous! Those guys are after you, if it had not been here you'd…"

"Exactly Raph, if YOU were not here, I wouldn't have left the lair in the middle of the night to look for you!"

"Who asked you?"

"No Raph, who asked YOU! What were you thinking, fighting all those guys by yourself? Do you want to get killed?"

"You think I do this for me?"

His voice was dangerously low.

"Who do you think I'm doing this for?"

His arms grabbed and pulled her close. She was just a few inches from him, caught up in his fury, forced to see his eyes shining with a golden fire of wrath and to hear his voice.

" Do you have any idea what I felt when I heard your tale? Can you imagine how angry I am against those bastards for what they did to you ? And you think I'm going to sit still and don't do a thing? Not a chance ! So I'm going to search this city over and over again until I get rid of the people who are after you!"

"And you think that makes me happy?"

He did not expect that answer. And there was something else he did not foresee: that shivering sound in her voice.

"Did you think it would make me happy to know you're out there every night killing people for my sake? Did you honestly believe I'll thank you for that? Do you think it would change something? No Raph, it won't change anything! The only you'll get by doing this is getting yourself killed!"

She tried to set free but his grasp was too strong.

"And even if it could make a difference, what were you thinking? Do you think I like the idea that people are dead because of me? Who said I wanted you to do this ?"

Mona Lisa felt all her strength suddenly vanishing form her. Her legs could no longer support her. Her body was now so heavy she was starting to fall. Raphael's strength still hold her, and she had to grab his arms to prevent her fall. She was no longer angry, she was sad.

Very slowly, she spoke;

"Yes I hate them. I hate every single one of them; tech ninjas, purple dragons, Filch… I hate them all for destroying my life… But _this_… this is not right.. These people you fought, they have nothing to do with me… how old are they? 14? 15? look at them, they're just a group of teenage punks playing tough… they'll probably run to their moms afterwards… And you were going to kill them?" Her last phrase disappeared in a sob. She was crying.

She tried to control her gasps. Force herself to stop her tears. Eyes on the ground, she took several deeps lungful of air, swallowed her sadness. Then when she looked at him, Mona Lisa said, sobbing and threatening at the same time:

"Don't you do this again Raphael. Ever."

Raphael did not answer. Until, almost imperceptibly, he nodded. Sirens approached.

"We should go," he said.

"Ok."

He took her to a distant roof. They remained there, in their quietness, for a long time. No phrases, no words, no sound. No glance. Just a heavy, sad emptiness with muffled sounds of the new York night on the background. The lights, the sirens, the car honks, the voices were down there. Down, but there. And they sat up here, with that silent gap between them. Worse than a wall of ice. He was ashamed. She felt empty. And the feelings instead of bouncing against the wall until it broke, kept trying to reach the other. Funny, how can someone be out of reach when he's just a few inches away.

" Mona Lisa..."

No reaction.

"I'm sorry."

She looked away.

"They're not dead you know. None of them are. I don't kill, ever. Even if they're enemies, I don't kill them."

"So they're alive?"

"They should probably be awake by now."

"Good."

Another silence.

"What did you mean when you said it won't change anything?"

"It won't change anything as to what I am now. I can never be human again. Never."

He looked at her.

"Never?"

She shook her head in a 'no' gesture.

"My body took a heavy toll when I was contaminated by nuclear water. Donnie and Leatherhead say it's a miracle I even survived the mutant transformation. A human transformation could be possible, provided we find an energy that is strong enough and harmless to the body. But there is no source on earth, or in the universe, that could perform a miracle so great as to restore me in my human form without damage. So in other words, I'm stuck."

She suddenly looked at him.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"This vigilante thing."

_Oh_. "Because that's who I am. Unlike my brothers, I can't stand it that our strength can't be used to help. I don't mess with gang wars and stuff, but each time I see one of them attacking innocent people, I feel my blood boil."

He clenched his fist.

"So each time I feel this urge to fight I go out and deal with them."

"Even if it has to cost you your life?"

"Never happened so far."

"Even if it has to cost your family?"

"You sound like Leo."

"What?"

He shrugged.

" Fearless always reproach me what I do. Can't stand that I question things, hate it if I don't obey blindly. He would lock me down in the lair if he could. It makes me even angrier. So I come up here and let off steam by fighting."

"And you continue. You know how much it worries your father and brothers but you continue."

"You don't understand, someone's got to do something. They're not going to stop, never. Someone has to stop them but there's too many of them. And most people are too scared tor too weak to do anything."

"…"

"So if I can do something, anything to make them stop, I'll do it. If the only thing I can is to fight relentlessly, then I'll continue. And if two or three bruises are the price to pay, then I'm ok with that. And fuck Leo and his moral."

"What about master Splinter?"

"Master Splinter never said anything."

"Just because he doesn't say anything, doesn't mean he approves it. And after what I saw tonight, I'm not sure I approve it either."

_And now you're going to say I have to stop because it's too dangerous. If I say no, you'll be angry and if I accept I'll be angry against you. Eventually. Gosh I hate that._

But Mona Lisa did not say anything. She remained next to him, with her chin on her knees, staring at the city before her.

"Aren't you going to ask me to stop?"

"No. I can't. Even if I want to, I can't. Because like you said, it's who you are. If someone stopped you, you'll be sad. Worse yet, you'll feel useless. You need to be out there Raph, not trapped underground. You'll go mad if you stayed in the lair forever. Fighting is you. I can't stop you."

He looked at Mona Lisa as if it was the first time he saw her.

"But," she confessed, " I'm scared that one day you may not come back."

She stared deep into his eyes.

"And what will happen then Raphael? What if you don't come back ?"

She wanted an answer.

" Mona Lisa I can't promise you to stop, but if I promised to always come back safe and sound, will you be feel better?"

"How do you expect to keep that promise?"

"I don't make promises I can't keep."

" I trust you Raph. Just… be careful, ok ?"

Her voice was shivering again.

"I'll always come back. I promise."

And before she could say anything, he moved closer to her, hold her face in his hands, and pressed his lips against hers.

* * *

_Come on that was stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid Raphael. What am I talking about? The stupidest thing ever! Shell, what an idiot. I mean what was I thinking, kissing Mona Lisa ? Why did I … Arg ! Why did I let that happen in the first place? There she was, and there I was and it just… happened. _

_Didn't you like it? _

_That's not the point ! Of course I liked it ! How can you not wish to kiss her ? She's gorgeous, how can you not want to hold her in your arms and kiss her? That sweet taste in her mouth, the soft skin of her face when I hold her, and gosh these lips… it felt like kissing a rose petal…_

_Wow wow wow, I'm getting lost here ! not the point ! not the point ! I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have kissed her, and hold her tight, and thought it would be great if we just could stay like this a bit longer and …._

_Losing the point again ! stupid, stupid ,stupid Raphael ! Idiot! Ok… deep breath… that's it… Now, I'm going to find Mona Lisa, apologize and tell her it won't happen again. No, no, I'm going to tell her it can't happen again. Yeah. That's it._

"What are you doing, arguing with yourself?"

"Whu ?"

"You've been standing there for minutes now, grumbling and acting weird. Are you gonna come in or what?"

Raphael had been standing at the living room entrance during his monologue, for the greatest pleasure of Mikey, unique spectator in the room aside from a TV and a bowl of chips.

"Is Mona Lisa around?"

"What ?" Mikey's eyes left the TV to look at his big brother again, "what did you say?" he asked his mouth full of chips.

"I got to speak to Mona, you know where she is?"

"Well," he swallowed, "she told Don she was going for a walk in the sewers. Which was…" he checked the clock, "two hours ago."

"Then where the hell is she ? Don't you see she should have come back a long time ago!"

"Now you start to understand what it feels like when you leave and don't tell us when you return," he put another handful of chips into his mouth.

"Oh stop it."

" If you're so worried, why don't you go and find her?"

"Why me ? Why would I bother?"

"Fine, I'll ask Leo."

"Fearless ? He wouldn't know where to look."

"So what are you waiting for ?"

_A walk in the sewers, huh ? Yeah right my shell_, Raphael thought as he pushed the manhole to exit the sewers. Mona Lisa's traces indicated she left the sewers to got topside. Good, a little walk in the cold air wouldn't hurt him, he needed to clear his thoughts. The same could not be said for Mona Lisa; as he followed her footsteps, Raphael wondered why she adventured outside by herself. Did she forget she was ill not too long ago ?

_I hope she took a coat. I'd feel better if she had the bonnet and scarf too, at least she'll be protected against the chill. Is her cold ok by the way ? Donnie said it was over but is it really a good time to leave the lair? Not that it ever stopped me_.

He smirked. He imagined the look on Leo's face if he discovered Mona Lisa left without telling anyone. He would totally freak out.

_Gotta admit she has guts. It's not everyone who'd go outside after being hunted down like a wild animal. Most people would have vanished and never show up again. But, hey, she's not like everyone is she?_

He froze.

_Wait a second._

Reality struck him hard, like a slap in the mind. His memory went racing; back to how he felt his pulse quickening the first time he spoke to her that day in April's apartment and thought it was just because he ran, how for a long time she thought he was very reserved while he tried a thousand time to talk to her and felt his voice and mind were no longer connected , how he was furious when he discovered Leo doubted her, and when he later understood it was his brother's way to disguise he too had growing feelings for her, why he acted so rashly yesterday… it all made sense now.

_That… that explains a lot_.

He let himself fall on the ground, white fume escaped his mouth as he breathed. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to think. The idea was too sudden, too real. How did he not see it coming ?

"I love her," he was almost sure the voice who said that was his, "I love Mona Lisa."

And as if to confirm it, his mind was now stuck on her. Stuck on the sound of her voice, on that mischievous smile she had, on the way she always pouted when she thought deeply, on the way she could be so serious and so easy going a few seconds later…

"And I only realize it now."

It all happened because he couldn't control himself, he was sure of it. If only he had known how to, then maybe none of these would have happened. Until that day ironically, Raphael had the idea that love couldn't be so bad. Not that he was particularly interested in it, but whenever he saw Casey and April, he couldn't help but think "it's cool."

But Casey and April were humans. He was a mutant. And he had fallen in love with the only mutant girl.

_I can't be in love with Mona Lisa._

If he loved her, he would betray jeopardize his family, he knew that. He was weak. Like the time he got carried away and almost hit Mikey with a metal bar during what was supposed to be an harmless training. He was weak to let his anger control him that day, and now his weakness reappeared. And this time, he could cost him his whole family. But if another had her, brother or not, he would…

"I would what?"

Die? No, not die. That was too easy. He would suffer. Forever. But he would not show it, to protect his family, he would have to temper down his jealousy and sorrow, throw it back where it belonged and forget about it. For them, and for Mona Lisa.

The memory of yesterday came back to him. Raphael touched his lips. He remembered how her kiss felt.

_How am I supposed to forget after a kiss like that ?_

He sighted and got up.

_I better find her_.

* * *

Mona Lisa apparently wandered for a while before making up her mind on her destination. Her traces went up on the roofs, down in the streets, up again… a real rollercoaster. Raphael lost her trail a couple of times until he realized she was heading East. Her steps ended near a park; the gates were closed but a three meter high fence never stopped a ninja from entering.

_What is she doing here?_

There was a lake in the park, frozen because of the cold. And on this lake was Mona Lisa, ice skating.

_She's beautiful. Everything she does is beautiful_.

He watched her dance on the ice; Graceful, fluid, flawless.

_If my brothers saw you like this, no doubt they'll fall in love with you too. Oh Mona Lisa… you have any idea what you're doing to me right now ? Maybe you're so caught up in your world you don't know. Or maybe you know it and pretend not to. You can be so cruel, you know ?And worst part is if you chose my brothers, any of them, I won't have the right to say anything: You have so much in common with Don, there won't be a day without you laughing if you choose Mikey and Leo is the prince charming you probably dreamed of as a little girl. But me ? What do I have that can make me important to you ? _

He paused as she executed a beautiful form, still unaware of his presence. Raphael stared at the young girl who moved into the free land of his heart and didn't even know it. And then, at that very moment, a fool's hope made his way into his mind; what if… What if he had a chance ? What if he could make Mona Lisa fall for him ? The more he thought about it, the more possible it appeared: he could fight for it.

_I won't let anyone else have you Mona Lisa. I get it now: you don't take a heart, you conquer it. I kissed you, but doesn't mean you're mine. Yet. I love you Mona Lisa. And I'll do anything so you love me too. I can't stand the idea of you with someone else than me, especially if it's with my brothers. I was ready to destroy every bad guy of the city for you, and now I'm more than ready to win you. _

"Raph !"

She skated toward him.

"How did you find this place ?"

"I followed your traces. There were very faint but it's not my first track you know. Still, it took me a while to find you."

She had a little, satisfied smile.

"What if someone else had found you ?"

"I needed a change of air Raph, so I came here. I like this place very much. I used to come here a lot."

"Really?"

"Yes, on the first winter I spent in New York my friends and I took our ice skate shoes and came here. I remember it was a beautiful day. So I took the habit of coming here, alone or in group. When it was winter, we skated. The rest of the time we sat on the grass and watched people pass by."

"Where did you get those?" he said referring to the ice skate shoes she was wearing.

"I found them near a trash can. The blades were almost new, but the shoes were in bad shape. I took the blades and put them on another pair."

"I didn't know you knew ice skating."

"Hum… truth to be told, I couldn't when I was human: I always lost my balance and fell. But now that I have my tail, it's much easier."

Raph tapped the ice with his shoe.

"Is this ice any solid ?"

She nodded, "I'm standing on it."

"Good."

He stepped forward and joined her on the ice.

"Gotta be close if I want to do this."

With as much tenderness as he was capable of, Raphael pulled Mona Lisa close to him and kissed her. The cold on her lips was quickly forgotten when he felt she embraced him.

His eyes still closed, Raphael felt a shadow passing over them. The back of his neck started tickling. Raphael broke the kiss and took out his sais, his ninjas senses full alert.

"Raph ? What's the matter ?"

"Get ready to run, we have a problem."

A brush. A movement in the trees.

Foot. Dozens of foot appeared out of nowhere.

They were surrounded.

"Be careful Raph! Those guns are dangerous!"

"I know."

The enemies took aim.

"Oh yeah, you wanna rock."

They fired all at once. The shots hit the ice, Mona Lisa and Raphael jumped I the air just in time to avoid falling in the cold water. When they landed, all the ninjas fired again. Smoke rose from the ground where they fired. Clouds formed around them. Raphael grabbed Mona's hand.

"Follow me!' He ordered.

Before the smoke vanished, Raphael and Mona Lisa were gone in the trees, jumping from one branch to another to escape. The Foot set off in pursuit of them, their heavy guns making them clumsy in the vegetation.

They were losing ground.

"Don't let them escape!"

Mona Lisa and Raphael were close to the exit. But not safe, not yet. They were no longer covered by the trees, in the streets with nowhere to hide and no one to help them.

Raphael turned around and faced the coming enemies. He had no choice; he would fight.

"Here they come!"

The ninjas kneeled and prepared to fire again.

There was no way they'd miss this time.

"Raphael, look!"

Powerful lights appeared on the corner of the street. An armored vehicle somewhere between a tank and a truck was driving its way through in a concerto of squealing tires and roaring engines.

"The Battle shell ! Come on Mona!"

The two mutants ran, hoping there will be enough time before the tech ninjas could aim again. The back door of the Battle Shell opened.

"Raphael ! Mona Lisa ! over here!"

Mikey let out a helping hand. He grabbed Mona Lisa and pulled her into the Battle Shell and helped Leonardo with Raphael.

"All right Don, go !" Leo ordered.

Donatello drove faster, tires screeched with the sudden speed, making everyone at the back crush against the metal walls. He took wild turns, not slowing down one bit, to put as much distance as possible between them and the enemies, until a tunnel sheltered them from view.

"Is everyone all right?" asked Don

Raph breathed heavily. "Yeah…"

"I guess…" said Mona Lisa between two pants.

She looked through the battle shell windows," It doesn't seem like we're followed."

"You're pretty lucky you know," Leo said, "If Don had not intercepted that communication while trying to fix the radio we would have never got here in time."

"Mikey !"

Mona Lisa' scream suddenly resonated in the battle shell.

"Mikey was hit !"

* * *

They all waited outside Don's lab. Due to her scientific knowledge, only Mona Lisa was allowed to come and help. Brothers and father had to wait. The unbearable wait. It seemed to last an eternity. Until finally, Donatello came out of his lab.

"How is he ?"

"The paralysis is wearing off. He was shot in the shoulder; it will feel a bit numb for the next couple of hours but he should be fine by tomorrow morning."

Everyone felt relieved.

"I'm so happy to hear that my son."

"He needs to rest. Raphael, can you carry him to his room ?"

"Sure Donnie."

Mikey was laying on the scanner table, motionless. He looked a bit paler than usual and had a burnt mark on his shoulder, where he received the shock. Mona Lisa was next to him, holding his hand in hers and placing the other on the youngster's forehead.

"His pulse is getting back to normal," she told Raph, "he has a bit of a fever but it's just a side effect from the paralyzing shot."

"Don said to take him to his room."

"Good idea," she bent a bit, "how do you feel Mikey ?"

"As if I stayed up three days nonstop…" he sounded so tired.

"Raph is going to take you to your room."

"Come one sleeping beauty, time to sleep already," Raph carefully took Mikey's body in his arms. He his little brother as if Mikey had the same weight as a pillow. Only much more fragile.

"I got him Mona, you go see the others."

"Yeah Mona… don't worry."

Mona Lisa reluctantly let go of Mikey's hand. She escorted Raphael to the lab's exit and watched them move away.

"She hold my hand during the whole examination." the orange-clad turtle told his brother, "Isn't it nice?"

Raphael pushed Mikey's door open.

"Yeah, very. Here you go." He put Mikey on the bed and pulled the blankets over his little brother.

"She thinks it's her fault… but it's not… You'll tell her, right? And master splinter too?"

"Yeah Mikey, I promise." He pulled the blankets a little higher, "there, safe and warm."

"I love her you know."

Raph froze. Well, of course Mikey would love her, everyone did. He was stupid to think he would be the only one to feel something for Mona Lisa. He just wish Mikey wouldn't be his rival. If it had just been Leo, Raph would have fought. But it was Mikey not Leo. And he was ill. So instead of challenging him, Raph just patted his little brother's head. Just like when they were children and one of them was ill.

"I know Mikey, go to sleep now."

"No dude….seriously…. I love her…."

He yawned.

"She's….the…best…"

Raph looked down to hide his sadness. His baby brother confessed he loved Mona Lisa. He felt like a man on death row.

"Yeah. She's cool."

"The best….sister…one could have…"

_Hold on a second_, "What?"

"Jason….is… so…. lucky…"

_Jason_? "Mikey, who's Jason?"

"Her….little… brother..."

His eyes were getting heavier by the minute.

"I wish…..Mona Lisa…was….our….sist…"

His voice slowly fainted. Soon, Michelangelo was deeply asleep. Raphael felt he would never be able to sleep again.

_She has a brother?_

Raph left the room and leant against the door.

She had a little brother. She was a big sister and he didn't even know it. Come to think of it, he didn't know anything about her; he didn't know what food she liked, what she liked to do in her spare time, what music she listened to, he never thought about it… And he just discovered she had a family. There were people out there who were her parents and missed their daughter. That thought bugged him for some reason. Mona Lisa was turned into a mutant, but she had to come from somewhere, you know, as a human being. She didn't just pop out of nowhere did she?

_Where's her family? And most important, why isn't she with them ? _

He had no answer to that.

W_ho are you Mona Lisa? Or rather, who __were__ you before I met you? _

There was only one way to find out.

He found her in the kitchen, pouring herself a cup of tea. Seeing her with something to drink awake his own thirst; he could go for a beer.

"How is he ?" she asked him.

"He's asleep."

Raphael opened the fridge, no beer of course. Master Splinter was against alcohol and threw away all the cans Raphael left in the fridge. What the heck, he was too tired to protest anyway and took a soda instead.

"Maybe you should go sleep too; You escaped a Tech foot ambush and assisted Don in his lab." He opened his can and took a sip. Grape. Not bad.

"I'm not tired. And I just got lectured by Leonardo for leaving the lair too long, so I don't feel like resting right now."

" What did he say?" Raphael sat across the kitchen table, where he had a full view of her face. Small blue bags were appearing under her eyes.

"Just that they had enough trouble with you already and that I shouldn't follow your example. Oh, and given Mikey's state, I should reconsider next time I venture outside. Unless I really want him to get hurt."

_Note to self, tell Leo is an ass_, "Mikey's fine, and he wants you to know it's not your fault."

Yet the phrase "I'm not sure it's true" was written in her eyes as plain as day. Maybe it was time they switched topic.

"Mona Lisa…. Could you tell me about yourself?"

She looked surprised, but just a little bit.

"At one condition, you tell me about yourself too. Deal?"

"Deal."

Her life was the same as million of other girls: She was the eldest of two children, with a little brother born a couple of years after her. The first child of a family who tried for a long time to have kids, and whose parents wanted the best for her and her brother.

"I was raised as a princess and as a normal child at the same time: My parents pushed me to do something with my life, but they rarely refused me anything at the same time," she explained.

"How were your parents ? I can't really picture what parents are supposed to be like since the only parent I know is Master Splinter. And Casey's mom."

"My parents are a bit different from normal parents as well you know. They're old, older than most of my friend's parents. And a bit old fashioned too," she chuckled, "you know my mom made me take sewing and dance lessons as soon as I turned 6 because she wanted me to become a lady."

"Really ?"

She nodded.

"Did you like it?"

" I didn't say anything at first; I never asked for it but I never refused it either. But when I turned 10 and told my mom I wanted to switch to modern dance instead because my friend was taking this class too, it did trigger some problems. At the end, we agreed that I could take whatever activity I wanted as long as I still took one 'lady-like' activity." She counted on her fingers, "Let's see; I took dance, sewing, singing and cooking classes. I liked the cooking classes best, and so did my mom and brother: they loved when I came home with pastries."

"Cute."

"What?"

"The way you talk; you're 23 and you still call your mother 'mom'."

A strain of light pink colored her cheeks for a few seconds.

"What about your father?" Raphael asked

"Dad ? He was the most old fashioned of the two, but I love him deeply. He totally freaked out when I used what I learnt in my 'lady' classes at a different end: like the time I sewed gothic clothes when I was in middle school, or the time I used the icing's extra coloring to dye my hair and ended up with pink highlights for a month…"

"Come one Mona Lisa, you being deliberately provocative."

"I know, I know, and I loved it you know; using everything they taught me to drive my parents nuts. Oh, they got angry at first but I ignored it. So every time I did something they didn't like, they'd just say; you're becoming mean Mona Lisa, I'm warning you if you continue like this you'll be sorry."

"Funny, it reminds me of Leo and me."

"Did you guys always fight?" she asked.

"Nah. When we were kids, it was more like 'bet I can do this better than you' and stuff like that. It really got wild when Master Splinter gave us real weapons instead of the wooden copied we practiced with so far."

"Did you get to chose your weapon? Or was it Master Splinter who gave it to you?"

"Well," he thought about it, "Master Splinter made us try different weapons when he began training us in the weapon art ; bow, katanas, shurikens, nunchakus, bo staff, he made us fight with everything at least once. But after a couple of classes, my bros and I began to feel attached to one kind of weapon in particular. Leo took the katanas, Don preferred the bo, and Mikey loved the way his nunchakus twirled around endlessly."

"So what made you choose the sais ? What didn't you take another weapon ?"

He looked at his sais with pride, " I love the way it lets you combine technique and fight; I can focus on my opponent and battle him directly rather than wondering which weapon technique is the best to use. It does require technique to use those little babies, once you get the hand of it they're your best pals. I can put all my strength into them and know they won't break. "

He twirled them a bit and put them back in his belt.

" Guess that's why I didn't pick a wooden weapon like Mikey and Don; too fragile, can't do what I want with it. I prefer steel and strength."

" Like a punch, only a hundred times more effective."

"You got it."

They laughed.

"What about your bike?"

His smile got wider.

"Ah! My bike ! It's thanks to Casey. When I met first him, he was a vigilante beating up every purple dragon he could put his big hand on."

"Maybe that's why you get along so well."

"It wasn't very easy in the beginning, first time we met he tried to beat me up too. But then, we really became good friends. He was the first human we accepted with April, but we were far from guessing they'll get married afterwards. So, back to our story: Casey had this old bike he was fixing by himself. Didn't have the money to get a new one back then, and he taught me a thing or two about bikes. Then I asked Don to help me get one too: we found a bike, Don fixed it and gave me mechanic tips on the way, and now I have this cool bike that nobody touches but me."

"Not even Don ?"

"….Ok, maybe Don when I have a bug I can't fix. But it's pretty rare."

"I tried biking once, when I was 13."

"Oh yeah ?" He would have never guessed it.

"Yeah, once. But it didn't work so well."

"What happened ?"

"Hum…." She hesitated before saying, " I fell and broke my arm?"

"…."

"…."

"And ?"

"Well, let's just say my parents knew nothing about it and got the news when the cops called them," she finally admitted.

Raphael was astonished, "you STOLE a bike ?"

"I didn't steal it!" she protested, " I really wanted to try biking and my parents refused to let me, and one of my friend had a big brother who owned a bike so we… we borrowed it."

"Oh my…" he didn't finish his sentence, too busy laughing.

"Hey, that's not funny ! I really hurt myself you know ."

"And what happened afterwards ?" he was still laughing.

"My parents used this story as a living proof that biking was dangerous, and thus, not for me. They paid the bike reparations, hoping it would be the end of it, but unfortunately my little brother Jason repeated the story to everyone in town so by the end of the week, everybody knew about it. I was pretty lucky the owner of the bike didn't press charges."

"You impressed him I guess."

" I impressed my little brother too, to my parents' horror."

"I just learnt from Mikey you had a little brother." He didn't mean to sound reproachful, even if deep down he felt like it, " Why didn't you tell us ?" He continued in a gentler tone.

"What difference would it have made ?"

" Maybe nothing, I don't know. What's he like?"

"Jason ?" her smile reappeared, "he's younger than you guys. And there's a five-year gap between us two ; I'm 23 so he's 18 now. It's been a while since the last time I saw him, he must have changed a lot."

"You don't have a picture of him?"

"I had one of course. But it was taken away from me when Filch captured me, but if I crossed my brother in the streets, I'm sure I'll recognize him right away." She thought a bit an added, "he's a bit like you and Mikey combined, because of all the jokes he did."

"Really?"

"There was the time when …."

_Fifteen year old Mona Lisa glared at her enemy; the weight-scale was waiting for her to make her move. she could do this, she could win. She took a deep breath and stepped on. Eyes closed, just in case. And when she opened her eyes…_

" _170 pounds !"_

_Gasp. Panic. Until she heard a familiar laugh behind her._

"_Jason ! stop fiddling with the weight-scale !"_

"And I retaliated by …"

"_Feeling blue today Jason ?"_

"_No, I feel fine."_

_Mona Lisa entered the bathroom her brother just left, and when she was alone, an evil smile appeared on her face: Jason hadn't noticed she replaced his shampoo with blue dye. Yet._

"Yeah, it does sound like Mikey and me."

"I told you so."

"Only Mikey's worse. I remember the time he first got his skateboard: he broke down several things before he finally managed to stay on it."

He counted on his fingers: "Don's computer, a table, three lamps, the TV…"

And to her, "we had to hid his skateboard for a while before we let him use it again."

"Jason was not totally like Mikey. There were also quieter times;"

"_Hum, sis ?"_

_Eighteen year old Mona raised an eye from her book, it seems Hemingway would have to wait._

"_Yes Jason?"_

"_Hum… what do you think ?"_

_Jason presented her with two t-shirts. Mona Lisa closed her book and examined the scene: Her little brother was blushing furiously. How cute she thought. For the clothes, she only had one glance._

"_If you have a date, drop the t-shirt and wear a shirt. The black one with the silver tattoo will be perfect. If you're just hanging with your friends, the blue one will be enough."_

"_Ok, thank you, "he stammered._

"_And by the way Jason," Mona asked as he was exiting the room, "is she cute ?"_

Well, almost;

_9 am, Mona Lisa entered her brother's room without knocking and before he could say anything, put a box of condoms on his night table._

"_Jason, I don't think you need, nor want Mom and dad to give you a lecture about sex; I'm sure you already know everything about it. But if you have any questions, I'm there. All right ?"_

_She knew he spent the rest of day wondering how she found out. _

"_Tch, boys."_

Raphael's soda went down the wrong way when she told him that story.

As they continued speaking, Mona Lisa and Raphael gradually move their chairs closer to each other. Like two kids sharing secrets, they talked; they talked about their origins, their lives in the sewers, they places they've been to, Raphael told her about the Utroms and the Battle Nexus, Mona Lisa about her trips to France and her summers in Italy. He discovered her first name should have been Domenica and that her parents changed their minds at the last moment and named her Mona Lisa instead, she learnt about their Japanese background; combined with Italian names and being raised in New York, the result in the brothers was interesting.

Midnight was long passed when they suggested it was time to go to sleep, but even on their ways to their rooms they continued to talk.

"Good night Raph."

"Good night Mona."

Just before she left, he extended an arm behind her neck and hugged her. He never hugged her before, it felt nice. And so did that kiss she left on his cheek. He kissed her forehead.

"Sleep tight."

"You too."

And maybe tonight it would be true: he wouldn't have so much problem falling asleep.

* * *

"You let them escape. You failed me for the last time."

"But mistress Karai…" the ninja pleaded.

"Enough ! I only made you captain of my ninja patrols out of respect for the work you did under my father. I should have known better. It is high time I name someone else at your place."

"Wait Mistress ! We… I did not return empty-handed. Look."

He handed her a picture. He did not dare look at Karai in the eyes. The woman looked coldly at him as if he was nothing more than an insect. She examined the picture without a sound, aware of how terrifying her silence was.

" You are lucky. I reconsider my first choice."

The ninja sighted in relief.

" I'll have your head sewed back on your body before I send it to your family. Take him away," she said to the other ninjas in the room.

She kept her green eyes on the picture, ignoring the cries of mercy that were fading away.

"This is…perfect."

Her lips formed an evil smile as she dropped the picture. The picture where Raphael was holding Mona Lisa in that New York street.

* * *

Author's little note: and Happy Halloween !


	10. Chapter 10: Spy in the dark, Discovery

**Spy in the dark, discovery**

At first he didn't notice.

Then he pretended not to notice.

Finally he couldn't ignore it: a door slowly opening somewhere in the lair soon after he left his lab for the night.

Donatello focused on the sound he was hearing almost every night hoping to know where it came from. It was always the same thing; the door opening and not totally closing, someone carefully waking away, and the door being reopened a while later. Donatello didn't know who it was; the person was moving too carefully for Donatello to identify it. But whoever it was, there was one thing the purple turtle was sure of: that person did not leave the lair.

He first thought about warning Leonardo but gave up the moment he tried, thinking, "what if it was him ?" And the last thing Donatello wanted was his elder brother believing he was watched.

What proof could Donatello provide ? The only proof he had to offer was a sound he heard at 3 am after having one too many coffees and a mondo headache.

Relevant right?

So tonight, Donatello resorted to the last, and pretty much, only way he had to find out what this sound was about: to spy.

A little before 3 am, Donatello turned off all lights and computers in his lab and pretended to head to his room. He opened the door and closed it, but he did not go in. As soon as his door was closed, he silently hurried back to his lab and hid under a table near his lab entrance. The lack of light made it hard to see him, but just to be sure, he moved two machines in front of the table during the day and prepared a blanket to roll in. Donatello wrapped the blanket around his shoulders and blinked a couple of times so his eyes would get used to darkness faster. And he waited.

He did not wait long.

No sooner had he settled under the table that he heard the door opening.

All senses on alert, Donatello slightly moved his head to try see as much as possible. From where he was, he could only catch a glimpse of the living room, but it was a good glimpse: he had the TV in plain view, the couch and a piece of an armchair on the right.

_Good thinking Mikey, putting the TV right in the center of the living room so I can see it from the lab when I work._

He smiled, and quickly stopped. As if the person entering the living room could hear him smile. And that person was….

_Mikey what the heck are you doing here ?_

Donatello watched his little brother cross the living room, humming what sounded like Mission Impossible main theme.

_Mikey, get out of here ! You're going to ruin everything!_

Donatello had to resist the urge to leave his hiding spot. Mikey made his way to kitchen, unaware that he was being watched. Donatello saw the fridge's light on the ground. It remained for a few seconds, until Michelangelo apparently chose what to pick and closed the fridge.

_If Mikey is the one who gets up ever night, I swear I'll put a lock on the fridge first thing in the morning, _Donatello promised.

Michelangelo crossed the room once again, this time back to his room. Once the humming disappeared, Donatello felt all the tension evaporating from his shell and shoulders. He sighed.

_Don't tell me the noise I heard every night was Mikey getting up to eat a midnight snack. _

Only a small creaking answered him.

_Apparently not_.

Donatello watched the living room once more. A shadow passed. A shadow he had no problem identifying.

Mona Lisa paused, looked around and turned on a light. Just one though. She sat on the armchair and waited. From where he was, Donatello could not see her face. She remained in the armchair for two minutes or so, then got up, took a book in a nearby shelf and returned to her seat.

_What are you waiting for Mona Lisa ?_

No answer. No sound but the familiar sound of the pages she turned. Donatello was about to come out and go to her when a noise stopped him: someone had just entered the living room. He saw Raphael walk in, his helmet in one hand, the other wiping his forehead. The light made him look older, more tired, and judging by the sound of her voice, Mona Lisa was tired as well.

"Hey there."

"Hey."

_Great conversational skill bro, I'm impressed, _Donatello thought.

"How did it go ?"

"Not too bad." Raphael dropped his helmet on the couch, "I stopped a burglary somewhere between the fourth and fifth avenue. I'm a hero but I'm starving."

Raphael walked to the kitchen. Mona Lisa put her book back and followed him. Donatello focused to hear better; the young girl's voice reached his ears, half surprised, half annoyed.

"What the ? I prepared a sandwich, it was still there after diner. Where is it ?"

"It's ok Mona, I'll have something else."

"I don't understand, it was there. Sandwiches don't walk around as far as I know."

Donatello swallowed his chuckle. Now he knew what Mikey took.

"It's ok I tell you, there's some leftover pizza in the fridge."

"Isn't that Mikey's?"

" He ate my sandwich, it's only fair I take a piece of his pizza."

"I guess."

"Want some ?"

"Huh… no thanks. "

Donatello imagined the scene; Mona Lisa taking glass of water and slowly drinking while Raphael swallowed pizza shares after pizza shares. There was another pause, until he heard Raphael's voice.

"Mona Lisa, you don't have to wait up for me every time I go out you know ? My brothers don't. "

" That's because you threaten them."

"I told you I'll come back in one piece. I promised, remember?"

"How are you going to keep that promise if you always come back with so many wounds? That's the only way I found to make sure you keep you promise: wait and see that you're back."

"I'm not wounded."

"So the bruise on your arm is just a paint stain ?"

_Warning, countdown to Raph being mad 3…2…1_

"It's ok, I don't feel it."

_What ? no curses ? No evil eyes ? Not even an exasperate sigh ?_

That was new. If Leo or him had been the ones who told Raphael about his wounds, the red turtle would have surely ignored them or tell them to mind their own businesses. There was a sound of a chair rattling the ground.

"Come with me."

Donatello heard Mona Lisa leaving the kitchen. She and his brother came back in the living room, and they were heading…

_Oh shell !_ Donatello thought when they entered the lab.

He no longer felt like a ninja on a mission, more like a thief afraid of being caught. Or like a kid at a place he was told not to go.

_Don't move Don, don't move_, he told himself.

Luckily, they didn't turn on the lab light. Only the living room's lamp Mona Lisa previously used lighted the place. It wasn't much, but apparently, it was enough; despite the room being almost plunged in the dark, Mona Lisa easily found what she was looking for. Raphael and her left the lab and sat on the couch in front of the TV.

_I can see only see their heads now. _

"What's that ?" Raphael asked.

"Ointment for your bruise."

"I didn't know we had that."

"We didn't. That's why I made it." she opened the box, "show me your arm."

Raphael obeyed without questioning. That was new as well, usually he couldn't stand orders. There was a silence where Donatello listened to the sound of Mona Lisa's hand rubbing his brother's arm. His brother had a expression he never saw on him before. It was so rare that it took him a while to find out what Raphael's face expressed: gentleness.

_It must be a light effect._

But Raphael proved it was not; His valid arm came stroking Mona Lisa's face.

" You knew."

She nodded, "I knew you'd be hurt at a moment or the other, so I prepared this. "

"I'm not talking about the bruise. There's something else on your mind Mona, I know it."

"Raph… It's not the only wound you have don't you ?"

"For tonight yes."

Mona Lisa sighed, "I knew it."

Her fingers touched lightly a scar on his shoulder, "how long did you plan on hiding it ?"

"As long as possible. When did you found out ?"

"Yesterday. When I found blood on your punching bag."

"I thought I washed everything away."

"Not everything." Her eyes met his, "where ?"

"Cut the back of my hand with an opponent's weapon."

Mona Lisa grabbed the hand that was so gently stroking her face. She looked panicked.

"It's only a minor cut, look, it's almost gone. And the burnt I had disappeared weeks ago thanks to you."

Mona Lisa calmed down, "yes, it's almost gone."

She was holding his hand between hers. She was trembling.

"Mona… Mona Lisa… Mona don't look so sad." Raphael's arms embrace her, "look at me; it's alright."

"You're hurting yourself, I know you promised to be careful but how can I stay calm?"

" Maybe I overdid it a bit," he admitted, «I've been out four nights in a row plus three nights last week. I'll be more careful next time."

They stayed like this for a moment.

"Raphael…"

"Mm ?"

"Please don't go out tomorrow night," she whispered.

Raphael gently caressed her hair, "ok."

He pulled her into a tighter embrace. Donatello blushed furiously and closed his eyes.

_Stop blushing you idiot! How old are you, 6 ? There's nothing to blush at!_

Then why couldn't he open is eyes and watch them ? He couldn't. He just couldn't. This scene, this moment between his brother and the young girl was too intimate to be spied on. They were in their own bubble of a world, with just the two of them and nothing else seemed to exist.

_I'd be less ill at ease if I caught them kissing, or even making-_

Donatello felt another blood rush to his face and instantly put his fingers on his cheeks; there were burning. He felt ridiculous, and ridiculously ill at ease.

_It's just a hug. They're not even kissing. It's just a hug. There is no rational reason for me to be embarrassed. Calm down Donatello… Take a deep breath.. that's it._

He repeated the exercise several times. His pulse was returning to normal.

_Now if they could just go…_

"Raph ? What is it ?"

"I thought I heard something."

_Oops._

She looked around, "I didn't hear anything."

"Maybe I'm just tired, it's 3 am passed." Said Raphael after a glance at the clock. Then to Mona Lisa, "how about we call it a day?"

"Good idea."

The couple got up. They were no longer in each other's arms but the softness between them was still lingering. Raphael whispered something Donatello couldn't hear but he saw Mona Lisa nod in return and when she turned off the light, the green-brown turtle saw Raphael had his arm around her shoulder.

Donatello wasn't sure how he returned in his own room, but once he was there, he locked himself up, leaned on the door and let out a long sigh. Of course, he noticed that Raphael and Mona Lisa's relationship improved compared to what it was like during the first days, and he was happy with that like everyone else. But he would have never imagined it would get this good.

"That was unexpected."

Well, not totally.

Mona Lisa was, after all, a very beautiful girl. She was in fact the only mutant girl he knew. The only one. Even as a mutant she had everything for her: looks, mind, personality. A winning threesome as Donatello's rational mind suggested him.

"Guess it had to happen, " he concluded.

_But why him ?_

He had no scientific explanation for that. What could Mona Lisa see in Raphael? The other way around was easier to understand but…

_Hold on._

That wasn't sure. What did Raphael, the hothead, violent, arrogant Raphael, see in Mona Lisa other than a fragile girl that needed protection ? Donatello rubbed his eyes. New questions popped in his mind when he tried to answer just one. Well, there was something that could help…

Donatello sat to his desk, took out a piece of paper and a pen from a drawer and traced a long vertical line in the middle, separating the page in two columns. In the left column, he wrote M_ona Lisa_, in the right, _Raphael_. He noted:

She looks like a renaissance princess, he looks like a combination of vigilante and ninja.

She's elegant, lady-like (Donatello drew a small equal sign and added feminine), he's cool but rude.

She's stubborn, (he paused) so is he.

She's a physician with a brilliant mind, he's a fighter who speaks with his sais.

She's sociable and likes to talk about everything, he's not much of a people person.

She probably made her parents proud more than once, Master Splinter often wished Raphael controlled his temper.

She never argued with any of us since her arrival (_despite the occasions_, he thought), not a day goes by without Raphael starting a fight (Donatello erased the last word and replaced it with "quarrel", weapons were not often included)

When Raphael is angry, everyone in the lair can hear him (curses, punches, you name it) I never saw Mona Lisa angry.

She's patient with everyone, even with Mikey, he can be tolerant for a couple of seconds.

When did Raphael understand we'd remain outcasts forever ? Did Mona Lisa even notice we'd remain outcasts forever ?

Donatello put down his pen and came to the conclusion, "they do not go well together."

* * *

He still had this thought in mind when he walked into the kitchen that morning. And the worst part was that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't think about anything else. The genius turtle looked at his family: Leonardo and Mona Lisa were chatting over a cup of coffee, Mikey was fixing something (it smelled like apples) and Splinter was reading a newspaper. Everything was normal. They were enjoying breakfast time, completely unaware of his trouble.

"Morning Don," said Raph as he passed next to his brother, "morning everyone."

"Raph, Don, you're just in time!" greeted Mikey, "Mona Lisa and I fixed a super breakfast; pancakes are on the way. Mona, I think the apples are ready."

Donatello greeted everyone and sat down. His orange-clad brother put a plate in front of him; glazing apple slices circled a pile of pancakes like a sun. It looked delicious.

"Eat up, eat up !" Mikey ordered.

Donatello obeyed. He observed Mona Lisa and Raphael; they were acting like nothing happened. They were chatting openly, like good friends.

_I know what I saw._

Next question was how to confirm his theory.

"Mona Lisa?" he asked.

"Mm?"

"Did you …."

_Did I caught you yesterday in my brother's arms ?_

"Areyouinlovewithmybrother?"

" What ?"

"Can you pass me the butter ?" he repeated after a few seconds.

"Oh, sure."

He felt like an idiot.

_Can you pass me the butter ? Come on, that was lame, _the purple-clad thought when he entered his lab.

While he quickly checked what the surveillance cameras filmed outside the lair during the night, Donatello was still trying to find a way to get the truth out of these two. But words didn't seem to come out this morning when he asked Mona Lisa, and asking Raphael could be dangerous, not to say suicidal. Bad idea.

"Doooooooonniee!"

Great. Michelangelo. Just what he needed.

"I'm working Mikey."

"Really ? I didn't notice. You seemed to be more like, lost in your thoughts. Anything eating your brain ?"

Donatello's eyes left the screen.

" How do you know that?"

"You just confirmed it."

_Damn it. _

"It's nothing really," he returned to his computer.

" Oh come on, tell me !"

"It's nothing I tell you. I'm just asking myself some questions."

"You always ask yourself questions Don, and it's always about complicated things too."

" This time it's not about computers or science."

"About what then? Something I can help with ?"

Donatello looked at his little brother. He wasn't sure sharing information with Mikey was a good idea. He might as well scream everything he knew in a speaker. On the other hand, a second opinion could help him improve his.

"About…" he hesitated a bit, "relationships."

"Now we're getting somewhere !" Mikey jumped to his brother's side, " it's about Mona Lisa correct ?"

Too late to deny it now.

"I think that…"

"Yes."

"I didn't say anything yet."

"But I know, you're talking about Mona Lisa and Raphael right ? I know."

Donatello was astonished. How could Mikey know something that he, the genius, failed to notice ?

"How ?"

" I walked in the dojo at one moment and they were … closer than normal friends would be."

Donatello went from astonished to flabbergasted.

"And you didn't say anything ?"

"What for ?"

"I don't know! I mean… we all leave together, you could have told me."

"I know but, Don come on. You know how Raph is; he could take it the wrong way and Mona Lisa… I don't want her to be uncomfortable around us."

Donatello nodded. He understood. He had the same feeling when he thought about talking to Leo about the sound.

"Have you told anyone about this ?"

"Only Klunk. I figured that if they didn't want us to know it was for a good reason and I should keep it to myself."

They smiled, and a little voice inside Don' head told him he could be proud of his little brother.

" Mikey," an idea just came knocking on Donatello's mind, "are you jealous ?"

" About Mona Lisa and Raphael ? No."

_Ok, he's either very stuck in his teenage mode or very naïve. _"Why ?"

"Cause I don't feel like it."

_The latter._

"Can you explain ?"

Mikey seemed to search for his words, "I don't feel like it because…Because I thought that… if Mona Lisa was with one of us, like a couple, then she would stay here. For good I mean. That way she'll really be our sister. And now that she's with Raph, we have a chance she really stays. "

Donatello did not see that one coming. "That's what you see in her ? A sister ?"

" I'd like her to be. Don't you think it'll be cool ? She trains and patrols with us, she likes comics, she's helping you, she can stand Raph and Leo's fights, Master splinter likes her. And she's almost the same age as us; 23, we're 21. It fits."

"…"

"Hum, Don ? You have a weird look on your face bro."

" I'm concerned. I'm not sure yet whether I'm jealous or not, but what I'm worried about is Leo's reaction. You have brotherly feelings for Mona, you are therefore no threat to Raph. But what if there's a confrontation between Leo and Raph ?"

"Where's the problem ?"

_Upgraded from very naïve to ignorant mode. _"I'm not talking about a love quarrel between two human teenagers for the same girl Mikey; We're not in Master Splinter' soap operas. I'm talking about a fight, an open war between the two dominant males of the family for the unique mutant female that exists so far."

"Dude, you're saying we're the submissive type ?"

"This is serious Mikey."

The orange-clad turtle looked at his stern, genius brother and understood that yes, he was serious.

"You really think it could happen?" he asked after a few seconds.

"There are… possibilities, yes."

"And what would happen then ?"

"The bubble will pop."

"What ?"

"Sorry, private joke", Don quickly corrected when he realized what he said, " Well, in the end there is a 95% chance they will confront each other and demand Mona Lisa chooses. Whatever she decides, there is only a 12% chance it will solve things. Or maybe she'll grow so tired of it she leave. There are so many possibilities, the outcome is difficult to predict for the mom-"

" No way !"

"Mikey ? Mikey ! Where are you going ?"

"You said it could go so wrong Mona Lisa will decide to leave right? Well I'll make sure it won't happen!"

"Mikey don't ! Oh crap… Why did I tell him that? What is he going to do now ?"

Mikey felt he had to do something. But what? He wasn't the smartest turtle, Donnie was. Donnie was the one who always found the right solutions. Or Leo. But given the circumstances, he had to replace them on that one.

_What to do ? What to do ?_ he repeatedly asked himself.

He didn't want Mona Lisa to leave. They had so much fun together. Losing her would mean losing the breath of fresh air the lair needed so much. And he was sure he wasn't the only one to think that. Hence the question;

_What to do? What to do ?_

"Michelangelo."

The orange-clad turtle froze.

"Yes Master Splinter ?"

"You seem agitated my son."

"No Sensei."

"Perhaps you could devote your energy to your training," Splinter continued, " like now Michelangelo. We are waiting for you."

_Training ? Oh Crap ! Before-lunch training session ! Totally slipped my mind_, "Please Master Splinter, can't I join you a bit later ?"

Master Splinter severely looked at his youngest, his eyes demanding an explanation.

"I have….something to do."

The old rat turned away and headed to the dojo.

"You can play your videogames later. Training comes first."

Knowing it was useless to argue Michelangelo followed, dragging his feet.

_For once it wasn't about videogames… _

* * *

"Raphael ?"

"Over there."

Leaving Master Splinter's bureau, Leonardo followed his brother's voice. The young leader just had a conversation with his Master, and he wasn't very pleased with the decision they took. Of course, he knew better than to question his sensei's orders, but knowing Raphael's temperament and ability to not follow orders, he wondered if the best solution would not have been to simply cancel their topside expedition. The blue-clad turtle found his red brother in a corner of the dojo, sharpening his sais. As maniac as ever.

"Raphael, about tonight's patrol…"

Raphael threw him a cautious look over his weapon's edge, waiting for what came next.

"I won't be able to make it."

"Why's that ?"

"Mikey totally failed today's training; he spent the entire session acting like a clown, not obeying the instructions he was given … And not just this morning, all day long too. It's almost as if he was doing it on purpose. He's going to stay here this evening to catch up today's lessons. Master Splinter prepared extra katas for him to learn too."

"And you're staying here because ?"

" I have to watch him and assist Master Splinter."

"….."

" So it will just be Mona Lisa, Don and you. Patrols are out of order for Mikey until he improves. Donatello will take the lead."

"Why him ?"

_Here we go again_, " orders from Master Splinter."

_Yeah right my shell_, " Don's busy with all the repairs that needs to be done around the lair. I can just go with Mona Lisa you know."

"No way. Last time it was just the two of you, the foot attacked and Mikey got hurt."

" Would have happened with any of us you know."

"You put the both of you in danger were you should have just run. You were clearly outnumbered and still you fought."

"Had to Fearless. Unless you're telling me I shouldn't have protected her."

"I'm not going to argue with you Raphael," he turned around and made his way out, saying " If you can't stop yourself from getting into trouble, at least try not to get Mona Lisa into it."

"bug off…" he grunted. But Leo did not hear him.

"_At least try to not get Mona Lisa into it."_ he said. Leonardo summed up in one phrase the two things Raphael hated the most; A lot of things got on his nerves, but this ranked second place in his top three; to not use his strength to protect. Shell, what's the point being strong if it's not to protect people?

As to what he hated the most ? Well…

Raphael turned to look at her across the living-room. In the far end of the lair, Mona Lisa was washing dishes. It was her turn today. The radio was turned on, she was humming Muse, Resistance, to herself. Raphael stared at her, thinking about what his brother just said. Why couldn't Leo trust him? Of course he wouldn't let anyone hurt her, or any of his brothers. He knew that. He fought for that. For them. Why couldn't Fearless see it ? Was a little trust too much to ask for ?

He remembered what Mona Lisa told him, "_fighting is You Raph, I can't stop you_." She trusted him. The girl he loved trusted him more than his own brother, and for a reason he did not understand, this thought saddened him.

Raphael put sais back in his belt and got up. He felt low and pissed at the same time, and it reflected on his entire body as if he was carrying a mountain on his shoulders. He walked in her direction. Mona Lisa slightly turned when she felt someone approaching, but the smile she had disappeared when she saw how grave he was.

"Talk to me Mona Lisa."

"About what ?"

"Anything."

She looked at Raphael's face and rode "please say something that will make me forget I argued with my brother." She took another plate in the sink, and began to talk while cleaning it.

"My father always loved to cook. I noticed that the more anxious he was, the harder was the recipe. For example, I looked at his recipe book once and discovered that the dish he made the day before was rated four stars out of five. And the funny part was that no matter how stressed or angry he was, it was always delicious. I wish I could be like that. What I cook always turn out wrong when I'm stressed."

She grabbed a towel to dry the plate. Raphael moved next to her and carried on the washing.

"Was your father a chef ?"

"No, he was in the publishing business. He worked for a scientific magazine."

"Journalist ?"

She said no with her head, " he was in charge of finding the subject of the next release and assigning journalists on the job. Then he would check the articles, select those to publish and those to keep for another edition. He always brought work home. I remember he would stay in his study and spend hours reading the articles, or other scientific papers. Sometimes he would put me on his lap and try to explain to me what this article or that experiment was about. I could hardly understand it at first."

He handed her another plate to dry.

" Is this why you picked physics major in college ?"

"Yes and no. I read the scientific magazines that laid around the house but I didn't really like it. It was too formal. But I liked everything that revolved around physics and science in general, and when I had my first physics class I decided I didn't want to study anything else."

"I read magazines sometimes."

"Let me guess; about motorcycle?"

"Best literature in the world beside Jurassic Park. Don't you read magazines ?"

"When I have the time."

"Do you read _fashion_ magazines ?" He ironically emphasized the adjective.

"Sure I do; When I need to start a fire. What about you ?"

"When I need a way to shut up Mikey."

"Now that's a way to get a girl's attention."

"And it's working."

They laughed.

"You know Mona it's been a while since we did something. Before you say anything, yes I know it's because of my vigilante. So let me make it up to you; Would you like to do something tonight?"

"Just the two of us ?" (_Hello ? Mona Lisa ? It' a DATE !)_

"Y-yeah. W-would a movie be cool ?" (_Stop stuttering you idiot_!)

"Movie ? Sure." (_Come one girl, try to make your brain work sentences that are more than two words long._)

"What kind of movie you want to see?" (_Please don't let it be a chick movie_)

" Something with lots of actions. Some of the movies that are about to come out looked cool."(_Last thing I want is him taking me to a romantic soap crap because he thought I'd like it._)

"Then it's a deal."

"Great !"

She had such a happy smile on her face when she looked at him, Raphael felt like he skipped a heart battement. Lucky his was a dark green skin. To calm down, he took what has already been cleaned and pretended he wanted to put them back at their places. Mona Lisa had to refrain from giggling to his embarrassment when he turned away.

_He's kind of hot when he's blushing._

Donatello put down the tool he was holding. It was no use, he wouldn't be able to focus with what he just heard. He swallowed. His mouth tasted weird and the embarrassment feeling he felt yesterday came back. He didn't mean to eavesdrop, but when the purple terrapin saw Raphael drop what he was doing and go to talk to her he subconsciously reduced the noise he was making with his reparations.

He pulled the list he made yesterday out of his belt, looked at it, looked at them, and tore the list in pieces. Moving to a nearby table, he took another piece of paper, grabbed a pen and wrote:

Raphael is very protective of her, she's critical but also very fond on him.

She actually made him stutter (_nice one there Mona Lisa_) he can bring her to talk about herself (_would have never guessed her father loved cooking_)

She doesn't see him as a brute, he doesn't treat her like a victim.

They tease each other (_and best part is they seemed to have fun together_)

If he cares for her, he'll have to calm down his vigilante activities (_and judging by their plans for tonight, it's in good progress_)

If she cares for him, she's going to have to accept all of him (_I don't know how she did that just now but she sure calmed him down_)

Donatello reviewed his new list, gave it one small nod and obeyed the scientific voice in his mind who made him draw an equal sign on the sheet and write _they do go well together_.

* * *

_A few hours later, around one o'clock…_

From far away, they looked like a couple going home after spending a pleasant evening. Their paces were steady, not too fast, not too slow. Almost too normal, as if they didn't want to attract attention. They were not chatting, nor laughing, in fact they seemed to barely talk at all. One could have imagined they argued and now found nothing else to quarrel upon. But they were walking close to each other, and held each other's hands. A typical gesture for a normal couple.

Yes, so all in all, anyone who looked or even glanced at them would have seen an ordinary couple, dressed warmly, going home and would have quickly forgot about them.

Which is exactly what they were looking for.

Would he have been alone, the red clad turtle would have played with danger, moving quickly around street lights, jumping above humans unaware of his presence. He would have teased, taunted the New York night just to see how good he could be.

But not tonight. Not with Mona Lisa at his arm.

Raphael and Mona Lisa casually walked into a small alley. If anyone bothered to look, they could always pretend they were heading to the small Chinese restaurant further ahead. But they didn't go that far.

A look on the right, a look on the left. Nobody.

Raphael lifted the heavy metal manhole and winked at the young girl.

"Ladies first."

Mona Lisa did not bother using the ladder when she jumped in.

Neither did he after he carefully closed the manhole behind them.

The sewer floor was cold and damp under their leather feet. Moss-covered lamps casted a dirty, feeble light upon green puddles here and there. The walls sweated and froze under the cold. The sewer flows emitted a musty, putrid and rotting smell. The other side of the coin of every great city. New York's other face, and perfume.

Mona Lisa hold her nose. She still wasn't used to the smell. Luckily for her, the lair didn't smell like this, but before they reached it they had to go through this. Yuck. What was the most annoying ? The smell, or the fact she seemed to be the only one affected by it ? Raphael didn't seem to mind at all.

" I know this isn't the most pleasant part of the sewers but it's the quickest way back to the lair."

"How can you breathe without fainting ? Honestly Raph, this smell makes me sick."

Raphael smiled when she spoke; her voice was distorted because she held her nose.

" I'm used to it I guess. I lived here all my life." He snorted, "Mona Lisa, stop making this face." He started to laugh.

"It's not funny."

"Yes it is. You holding your nose so seriously while making a funny face." He laughed again. " And you have the same voice of the bad guy's underling in the movie we just saw."

" You think I look like the bad guy of the movie?"

" Nah, you're cuter than him." He assured her, " No worries there."

She nodded, but she let go of her nose. " I'll need at least five piercings on the nose to look like him."

"And an extra meter in height."

"And no make-up."

"And at least 80 extra pounds."

"And a helmet with devil horns."

"That can be arranged."

"No way, keep it for you."

"You saying I look like the bad guy now ?"

"Never crossed my mind. Although your vigilante helmet do look like his."

"Ooh, so you like the devilish type Mona Lisaaa ?"

_(Stop taking a sexy voice with your Brooklyn accent. If I wasn't rubbing my hands to ease the cold, I'll use them to block my ears; it should be illegal to have such a sexy voice.)_ But she hid her thought behind a smile.

"No I don't. Bad boys aren't my type. "

" Course you don't." he answered, not fooled one bit by her flirty smile. Which he returned. It was nice to smile at a girl.

"How about you Raph ? Oh no, let me guess ! You like the perfect type."

"The what ?"

"The type of girl that is so perfect, so upright, so pure and everything that you want to be close to her just to see if you can pervert her."

He froze and she stepped a bit ahead of him. Thinking she said something wrong, her mind urged her to apologize but before she could said anything Raph said;

"Oh my … Leo and I have been flirting for years !"

She burst out laughing.

" Did you confess yet ?" she asked between two giggles.

" Nah, I'll let him do the first step."

New giggles. They couldn't stop, even when they reached the lair they were still half laughing and Mona Lisa had to block her mouth to try and prevent the laugh from coming out. It was a long time ago since she laughed this much.

"Alright," said Raph when they were in front of their rooms, "here we are. I really had fun tonight."

"Me too. Thank you for taking me to the movies. It's been so long since I had fun."

" Hey, what's the point of being ninjas if you can't slip into a theater and watch a movie for free?"

She nodded. It was one way of putting it.

" Well hum…Good night Mona Lisa."

"Good night Raphael."

But none of them moved. She looked so beautiful standing there in front of him, so happy, so peaceful he felt he could keep her like this forever. And staring at her, he too was feeling calm and well. He just wish he knew why he couldn't find the words to tell her. He tried to speak, to say something that would keep this beautiful moment intact, but before he could say anything, her arms embraced him and she pulled him into her magic.

Raphael's strong arms returned her embrace, and for the first time in his life, Raphael felt truly accepted; it was with a sweet sadness he let go of her and wished her good night.

Raphael pushed his door open, and discovered he had a guest: Donatello. The green-brown turtle was sitting on Raphael's hammock, leafing through a magazine he found. He turned around when he heard Raphael come in.

"Hello Raph. How was your evening ?"

"What are you doing here ? "

"I wanted to talk to you. But since your weren't in your room, I thought I'd wait for you."

Raph tossed away his sais and started to take off his bandana as if Don wasn't there.

"What do you want brainiac?"

" I'll go straight to the point_; _Were you with Mona Lisa just now ?"

"And if I was ?"

_Confession or provocation ? Better be careful, I can't win against Raph on those fields, _"Where have you been ?"

"Movies." Raphael began to unwrap the leather straps around his arms, "Thought she could a break from being confined down here."

"You only invited her and left the lair without telling anyone, you come back at this hour ; That pretty much looks like a date to me Raph."

Raphael said nothing and moved on to unwrapping his knees.

"Do the two of you often go to the top like this ?" He did not use the word "date." He still wasn't sure.

" Every chance we got."

"Oh…"

Every book he rode, every research he made, every analysis he conducted did not prepare him for this. Donatello took a deep breath and sought the one answer he couldn't figure out on his own;

"Raphael, what do you think of Mona Lisa ? As a girl I mean; What do you feel when you're with her ? I know I'm not being very precise but-"

"I understood Don."

Purple looked at red; Raphael did not appear to be angry, which was a good sign Donatello guessed, but he didn't seem eager to answer either. Raphael took his time, before answering;

" On the way home, she asked me what type of girl I liked. Well not explicitly, but the more I think about it, the more I think she's the only girl I want."

"Why ? Raphael, please, I'm just trying to understand what you see in her !" he added when his brother glared at him, "Is it because she's the only mutant girl ?"

" She's not just any girl. She's… amazing. Yes she's smart, yes she's beautiful, but she doesn't brag about it. She likes girly stuff but she has her temperament, which is good if you want to survive living with us." He chuckled, "and most important… she's good-natured; she accepts us without any questions. She accepts Mikey, you, Leo… even if she doesn't approve it all, she accepts me. She doesn't lecture me, not like Leo at least. She has her own way of getting to the point. Did you know she waited up every night in past three weeks to see if I was home ?"

_Yes I did_, "No."

"Don't you think she's cool ?"

"Yes, I do. But Raph, isn't your opinion of her biased ? I mean, don't you think you see her that way because she's the only mutant girl we've met ?"

"Bull. We met other mutant girls remember ? During the Battle Nexus, or when Usagi invited us in his world a while ago. But I never met someone like Mona Lisa. And to tell ya the truth Don," he took a deep breath, "I'll think I would have liked her even if she was human."

Donatello stared at his brother; he was not lying.

" So you like her ?"

Raphael nodded. Donatello rubbed his chin.

"How long have we known her ? Let me see… two months and a half right ? Isn't that a bit fast ?"

"We became friends with April and Casey faster than that."

"True."

"And Don, just to let you know…"

"?"

"In my mind, what we did tonight WAS a date. "

Donatello slowly nodded at his brother's confession.

"I guess that's why Mikey did it."

" Mikey ? What does Mikey have to do with anything ?" Raphael sounded genuinely surprised.

"He knows. About you and Mona Lisa. That's why he failed today's training on purpose, so it would be easier for you to slip out unnoticed later. He made sure to keep Master Splinter and Leonardo busy."

Raphael was astonished, he tired to speak but words stammered on his lips.

"H-he … he knows ?"

"Yeah, and worst part is; he's happy for you, for Mona Lisa and you both. When I talked to him this morning he didn't seem jealous at all. A little more and I would say he was expecting it."

"How about you ?"

This was the moment Donatello was waiting for. And he had to wait and listen to his brother before he could finally put words on what he felt.

"See Raph, that's the thing: I enjoy her company, I like to train with her, I think she's great and she's beautiful… but I don't love her. Not in the same way as you. I looked for an explanation to this, but I couldn't find it."

"Things don't need to be always explained Don. Here the facts speak for themselves."

" You're right. But still, I tried to understand why I wasn't feeling jealous, or envious, and the only conclusion I came to was the same as Mikey's; I don't feel like it. Maybe my mind decided a long time ago that you and Mona Lisa made more sense than Mona Lisa and me. But Raph, keep in mind that Leo may have a different approach than me."

"I will. But you keep in mind I'm not about to surrender to Leo. "

_Damn, this is what I feared. _


	11. Chapter 11 : Wind in the dark, run

**author's little note**: What can I say except I'm very VERY sorry for the delay ? I truly hope you'll enjoy it an think it was worth the wait.

* * *

**Chapter 11: wind in the dark, run.**

Mona Lisa assisted Don to clean up the lab, then headed to the floor. Even if blouse and gloves were mandatory when one played with potassium permanganate, she felt the fumes the experience created glued on her like a second skin. She already had scales, she really didn't need that. Plus her hair smelt weird now. All this for a failed experience. Oh well, ten minutes under the shower and she wouldn't think about it anymore she thought when she got there. But the door opened before she grabbed the handle, and Raphael came out.

"Oh Raph. I didn't know you were there."

"I just finished, the bathroom's yours." He slightly frowned, "what's that smell ?"

"Potassium permanganate. Don and I have been working on a smoke mechanism for the battle shell, but it didn't work that well."

Raphael raised an eyebrow.

"Is that why Mikey screamed the lair was on fire ?"

"The lair was NOT on fire Raphael. It was merely fumes. Toxic fumes yes, but fumes nonetheless."

Half-smirking, half-grinning, Raphael pointed to the bathroom behind him, "Go ahead."

As she passed in front him, Raphael grabbed her chin, kissed her forehead, gave her a wink and walked away.

_As slippery as ever. Didn't even have time to say something, _she thought_._

But her smile faded as soon as he was out of reach, and she knew why: she was worried.

As she let the shower rain over her head and body, Mona Lisa's mind drifted to Raphael, and to be more precise, about their relationship to each other. She didn't dare speak about it and he never brought the subject up.

She pressed her lips together in a pale line. Even she was alone with her thoughts, she felt embarrassed. Whenever she thought about something that made her feel uneasy, she would always make a funny face and quickly look around to check if there was anybody who read her mind.

She knew it was stupid. But it's a habit she had since childhood.

_I don't know what to think. _

First of all, why ? If she had been human, the answer would have been simple: she was beautiful. Before her mutation, everyone told her so. If, during her human times, Mona Lisa wouldn't have gone that far, she did, however acknowledged she was pretty enough. But now…

_Enough Mona Lisa ! stop crying over yourself. You're alive, you're healthy, you have a place to live, and friends to watch over you. Friends who were like this longer than you. It is THEM who should be complaining. You don't know where this relationship with Raphael is going? Give time to time girl, and furthermore, you should be discussing this with HIM, not with your sad self. And now get out of here: shower is not the best place to have a talk. _

Satisfied with her auto critic, Mona Lisa opened the shower curtain just enough for her hand to get through. She grabbed her towel and pulled… and heard something. It was a small, light noise, one she would have probably not heard if she hadn't turned the shower off. It was familiar sound, yet she usually never heard it a bathroom.

_Sounds like paper. Like a folded paper that felt from a desk. _

Curious now, Mona Lisa wrapped the towel around her body, fully opened the curtain and scanned the room. The room wasn't that big so she quickly found it: under the towel holder was a small piece of paper, folded in four.

Mona Lisa took it. Where did it come from ? Did one of the brothers forget it ? But she only noticed it when she took her towel, did that mean one of the brothers left it there on purpose ? she opened and read;

_Going for a tour tonight. You coming ? R_

* * *

Raphael parked his bike in an alley.

"Where are we going ? "

"Tonight we're going to try something new: we're dancing."

" What ?"

" You want me to repeat that ?"

"Raphael, look at us: how do you expect us to go there without getting noticed ? We'll be kicked out the second we set a foot inside a dance club !"

"That's where you're wrong."

Raphael pulled a paper out his belt. Mona Lisa rode: _**Theme Night: Wild Jungle ! Let out the Animal in you !**_

" It will be easy for us to blend into the crowd with our scales and shells. Who'd be able to tell it's not a costume in the dark ?"

"It's… worth a try."

She heard the distant music. It was rapid, upbeat, the type of music she used to dance on until her feet were dead. The type of fun she used to have when she was normal. When she was human. It was there. A few meters away. She felt a wave of excitement run over her skin. She wanted to go there so much…

"Yes…" she slowly repeated, "it's definitely worth a try."

"Let's go then."

He took her hand and guided her in the waiting crowd below. Impressed with their "costumes", the doormen let them in after only a few minutes. The place was packed with dancers, some only had minor accessories like animal ears or striped leggings, but others had more complex costumes: Mona Lisa saw a girl entirely dressed as a raccoon, and two men in rhinoceroses.

And Raphael was right: no one was looking at them in a weird way.

The first tones of S&M reached her. Mona Lisa looked in wonder at the dance floor, vibrating with energy and light. Switching the roles, she led Raphael to the dance floor.

It's been years since she felt so free. It was good to feel normal, to be surrounded by other people then prison guards. These people were sharing their love for music, their energies, their talent, these people were looking at her, admiring the way she moved. She felt the attention. She felt alive.

They danced nonstop until Raphael felt his throat grow sour.

"I need a drink," he told Mona, pointing at the bar.

Mona Lisa gave him a small nod and carried on her dance.

"Redbull." Raphael asked.

The barman handed him his drink and said, "nice costume man."

"Thanks."

"Is that your girl ?" asked the barman above the music.

Raphael glanced behind him; Mona Lisa was still dancing, surrounded by a few dancers, both men and women, encouraging her to continue. Sipping his red bull, Raphael watched Mona Lisa. He didn't know how she did that, but she was doing it well; like a fish in the water, she followed the music flowing over her body. The red-clad turtle glanced back at the barman and nodded. The man behind the counter gave him a thumb up.

Raphael felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Mona Lisa.

" Can I take a sip ?"

She didn't ask actually, she only pointed to the can he was holding, and Raphael handed it t her as an answer.

"Here"

The barman laid two mojitos in front of them.

"Gift from the house," he said," you two are by far the best couple I've seen tonight."

The first tunes of _te amo _rang out in the room. Mona Lisa turned her head, like magnetized at the music. She quickly finished her drink and tried to drag Raphael away from his seat. He resisted a bit at first.

"Come on !" she encouraged him, "I love that music !"

He gave up and let her take him. He watched her give up her senses to the music, it was slow, sensual, and she was letting every note controlling her. There were other girls dancing, yet there was something in her that shined and that no one else had.

"_Te amo, te amo," she says to me__  
__I hear the pain in her voice_

Mona Lisa wondered why she was feeling uneasy at those words. _  
_

_Then we danced underneath the candelabra, she takes the lead__  
__That's when I saw it in her eyes, it's over__  
_

And then she did something he would never forget: she pulled Raphael closer to her. She wanted to dance…. With him !_  
_

_Then she said "te amo"__  
__Then she put her hand around my waist__  
__I told her no, she cried "te amo"__  
__I told her I'm not gonna run away, but let me go_

_My soul is awry, without asking why__  
__I said, "te amo, wish somebody' d tell me what she said"__  
__Don't it mean "I love you"?_

They circled around each other, eyes in eyes, without a word, letting the song speak for them. _  
_

_Think it means "I love you"__  
__Don't it mean "I love you"?_

_Te amo, te amo, she's scared to breathe__  
__I hold her hand, I got no choice__  
__Pulled me out on the beach, danced in the water, I start to leave__  
__She's begging me and asking why it's over_

_Then she said "te amo"__  
__Then she put her hand around my waist__  
__I told her no, she cried "te amo"__  
__I told her I'm not gonna run away, but let me go_

_My soul is awry, without asking why__  
__I said, "te amo, wish somebody' d tell me what she said"__  
__Don't it mean "I love you"?__  
__Think it means "I love you"__  
__Don't it mean "I love you"?_

_Listen we can dance, but you gotta watch your hands__  
__Watch me all night, I'm movin' to the light because I understand__  
__That we all need love and I'm not afraid__  
__I feel the love, but I don't feel that way_

_I have to tell her._

_I can't tell him._

_Then she said "te amo"__  
__Then she put her hand around my waist__  
__I told her no, she cried "te amo"__  
__I told her I'm not gonna run away, but let me go_

_My soul is awry, without asking why__  
__I said, "te amo, wish somebody'd tell me what she said"__  
__Don't it mean "I love you"?__  
__Think it means "I love you"__  
__Don't it mean "I love you"?_

_Think it means "I love you"__  
__I love you__  
__Te amo, te amo__  
__Don't it mean I love you?_

They had stopped dancing.

They stared at each other until Mona suggested it was time to leave.

* * *

"Everyone's asleep already ?"

"I think so. You go ahead Mona Lisa, I just have to lock the door and I'll be there."

It took him nearly five minutes to complete Donatello's instructions to close the doors and set the alarms back on. When the door light turned red, he gave it a small, satisfied nod and made it to the stairs. Last thing he expected was to see Mona Lisa there.

"Hey, I thought you were already gone to sleep-"

And at the end of the corridor was Leonardo.

He said nothing. He just kept staring at Mona Lisa who was too surprised to speak and as soon as Raphael was next to her, he finally asked;

"Where were you ?"

Although he spoke in a calm way, his voice sounded everything but peaceful. His cold, contained tone coupled with the expression he was about to burst out any moment made him unpredictable. Scary even. Mona Lisa opened her mouth to speak but Raphael bluntly told the truth.

"We were topside."

"The two of you ?"

"See anyone else ?"

Leo 's arms folded a bit stronger. If he was angrier or more jealous, he showed nothing of it : his expression remained the same.

"I hope you have a good reason for this."

"Why ? We don't need your permission to go outside, do we ?"

Raphael was provocative. And Leo played into his game.

"You know going outside is forbidden."

"Since when ?"

"Since forever Raphael ! Master Splinter repeats it every day: we are not allowed to go outside alone, unless we're all together or if it's to go see April and Casey !"

"What tells you we didn't go there ?"

"I called them. You weren't."

Mona Lisa looked at Raphael: Didn't he tell his family they left the lair for a few hours ? She didn't get an answer though, Raphael was too busy provoking his brother.

" Ok, so we were outside. Just the two of us. And you know what Leo ? I don't see what the problem is," Raphael said, slowly emphasizing each syllable.

They didn't have to wait to see the result.

"You disobeyed again ! And you're proud of it !"

"If Master Splinter has something to say, he can tell me himself. I don't need you to lecture me in his place Leo."

Leonardo angrily stared at his brother for a few seconds, then glanced (more like glared) at Mona Lisa.

"Mona Lisa, would you excuse us for a minute?"

"No."

Ignoring the bewildered look of the two brothers, Mona Lisa returned Leo 'stare, not intimidated one bit. Her silence clashed with her defiant pose: hands on the hips, head on the side, tail whipping behind her back and arrogant glare, she was openly challenging the Blue Leader. Everything in her screamed "try me."

"I too left the lair without permission. If you have something to say about it, I'm entitles to hear it as well."

Leonardo looked at her, than at Raphael's wicked smile, than at Mona Lisa.

An then he lost all patience.

"Are you mad ? Taking Mona Lisa on you tours !"

" I offered her to come and she said yes. You want to argue with someone, argue with her. What's wrong Leo? Can't stand that she's smart enough to question you or that she prefers my company to yours ?"

"She's not for you," he growled between his teeth.

Mona Lisa's eyes opened wide in surprise: it wasn't English just now, it was Japanese. Leonardo was speaking Japanese!

"You think she's for you ? What do you have to give her, Fearless ?"she heard Raphael reply.

_What on earth are they saying ?I don't understand a thing !_ she thought. _And they don't even seem to mind !_

Something was going wrong. Very wrong. Raphael was no longer taunting his brother. They looked ready to jump on each other. Leonardo no longer was the calm and composed ninja he usually was. She glanced at Raphael; he was in the same state.

_His eyes…_

His light brown eyes were turning yellow.

" You can't love her Leo," Raphael continued, "you wouldn't know how to! You'll respect her, appreciate her, but you'll have no love to give her! You'll only be with Mona Lisa by duty, not because you love her."

Leonardo felt a burning sensation on his face. It was so quick he did not see it. Blood rushed to his brain as he looked at his brother. But Raphael looked as bewildered and furious as he was. It was when they saw Mona Lisa with her hand raised that they finally understood.

She had slapped them.

Mona Lisa had slapped them both.

"Enough ! Both of you !"

* * *

_I wonder what is noise ? It sounded like Mona Lisa. I better go see. _

* * *

"This is not about going outside, or disobeying orders, this is about you ! It's about the fact you two cannot stand what the other is doing ! I refuse to have anything to do with your dispute, but most of all, I do not accept you use me as a justification for your fights !"

"Mona Lisa, this has nothing to do with you."

" It had something to do with me the moment you got my name involved in all this, Leonardo! And don't think you guys can get away by talking Japanese so I can't understand. I'm not so stupid !"

"This is our home," Leo answered, " we have the right to argue if we want to."

" You guys can argue as much as you want, be as childish as you want, just leave me out of it !"

"If you're not happy with it, why don't you just leave ?"

"What?"

She didn't scream or sounded angry, she sounded too calm. It took a few seconds for Raphael to realize what he just said, a few seconds too late.

It wasn't an idea he dropped, it was a bomb. And it just exploded at her face.

"You think I don't want to go back home? "she slowly started, "You think I don't want to see my parents again? You think I don't want to see Jason? I CAN'T come back Raphael! I'm DEAD! I'm gone! The human Mona Lisa they raised is DEAD! If I showed up on their doorstep they wouldn't recognize me. They… they…they… they wouldn't want to! They'd chase me! My father would even take his riffle and shoot me! He wouldn't recognize me! Even if he knows it's me… The human Mona Lisa is dead! The mutant Mona Lisa does not exist! Not in this world. Not in THEIR world! For them I'm DEAD! I died on that...on that... accident. '_Poor Mona Lisa… why wouldn't she wear a life jacket? She…she knew it was dangerous..._' They'd rather know I'm dead on that boat rather than accept that I'm alive… and well…. But changed…. "

She suddenly felt very, very tired. All adrenaline was gone from her, taking away what hold her together until now. Mona Lisa no longer felt defiant or brave, she felt weak, weak from sad exhaustion, weak from all the bad memories she cautiously hid away that suddenly rushed back to her mind and boiled inside of her like a disease. They tasted acid like a rotten food.

"I'm tired." She said.

She passed in front of them, too quickly she thought, without looking. Neither Raph nor Leo tried to stop her. She only wanted one thing: to run.

Run from them.

Run from the inquisitive gaze Master Splinter gave her.

Run from the opening doors, before Mikey or Don came out.

Run from everyone.

Run from what she had done.

Run.

Disappear.

_Close the door. Don't look back. Don't' cry. _

Fall on the ground because legs gave up.

Go home, go home…

No, not home.

_Can't go home. Nobody's home. No one's waiting for me there. _

Don't cry.

_I want to go home._

Sleep.

Forget. Forget, forget, forget , forget.

Forget the pain in her chest.

Forget the pain in her voice.

Forget Raph wanted her gone.

Forget him.

Forget them.

Forget she broke her unspoken promise to never hurt them.

Forget.

Close your eyes and forget, forget, forget, forget…

* * *

"My sons… I hope you have a good explanation for this."

* * *

Raphael looked at the clock: 10:30 pm.

Another hour to wait until he could go sleep and maybe find rest. Too tired to do anything, not enough to sleep. Stayed in his room most of the day. For the third day in a row. Didn't want to face his brothers. Or Mona Lisa. Gosh, the look on her face when she left.

_Why did I say that ?_

Why did he always say things that hurt ? Why didn't he understand sooner that Leo spoke Japanese on purpose so Mona Lisa wouldn't be hurt ? But he dragged her into this.

_Master Splinter had locked them in his bureau afterwards, knowing they wouldn't dare fight here. They stayed there, alone, staring at the empty place behind the table where their master sat. They didn't know when he was going to be back. He didn't say. Leonardo felt all the bitterness and resentment from his brother without having to look at him, Raphael felt the urge to not look at his brother and read the reproach and coldness written on his face. For nearly ten minutes they stared at the tea set on the table before the blue-clad turtle spoke. _

"_Did Michelangelo or Donatello …"_

"_No. No they didn't know anything." Don't blame them. They didn't do anything. It's my fault._

_Silence._

" _Has there been a lot between you two?"_

"_We went out most of the time."_

"_So you guys never-"_

"_No."_

_Raphael remembered Leo took a deep breath before asking;_

"_Do you love her?"_

"_Not of your damn business."_

"_Does she love you?"_

"_Fuck off."_

" _Play mighty with me if you want but don't lie; you don't know.."_

"_Shut up."_

"_You don't know and you're scared she doesn't love you. You're scared because you never told her you loved her, but most of all, you're scared she rejects you."_

"_Shut up ! SHUP UP !" _

"_My sons !"_

Did Master Splinter hear them ? He didn't know.

They messed up. They messed up big time. Leonardo and him even forgot to be mad at each other after Splinter's lecture.

He looked at his hands, his ugly green three-fingered hands and tears came blurring his visions: how could he think for one second that she would like him ? His hands punched and slapped where is brother's were gentles and soft.

" They say it's my fault. But I want her so much."

He felt as if someone took his sais and cut his body in pieces.

He felt like dying.

Someone pounded on his door.

"Raphael!"

Don…

" Give me a break Don."

"Raphael! Open the door!"

"What part did you not understand ? I said leave me alone!"

"We don't have time for this Raphael, Mona Lisa's gone !"

* * *

"She can't be too far, the video cameras showed she left less than an hour ago."

"But she didn't leave for good right ? Right Don ?"

Donatello bit his lips and glanced above his shoulder as he kept running on the roofs : Mikey was close behind him, followed by Raph, Leo and Casey. Everyone was concerned.

"I don't think so Mikey, "answered Don, " Her things are still in her room. But she left without telling anyone and worst part is she headed west."

West. Purple dragons.

"Purple dragon territory is huge," he heard Casey say, "She could be anywhere!"

Leo ordered them to stop.

"We're going to split. Raph and Casey, you go west from here then up north. Mikey , Don and I will go east then I'll head south . Keep in contact."

Raphael and Casey parted west.

"Why on earth would she leave without telling anyone ? She never did that before."

The answer Casey expected did not come. An idea formed into his mind.

" Raphael, does this have anything to do with you ?"

No answer. Casey stopped running.

"Raphael, you only don't answer when you know you're at fault. What happened ?"

"I'll tell you on the way, first let's find her."

He was half-way through the story when he spotted her on a higher building. Raphael cut his speech short and waved for Casey to follow him.

"Mona Lisa," Casey rushed toward her, "Thank God we found you!"

Mona Lisa had no reaction. She had her back turned on them, holding her pink handkerchief in one hand while the other rested on the building security fence. Her head and shouldered were a bit lowered down, and she was quivering.

"Mona Lisa, you alright ? Mona talk to me !"

He saw it coming before he even finished his sentence: Mona Lisa's body was slowly slipping down. The back of her head faintly hit his plastron as Raphael's strong arms caught her in her fall. He thought she weighted way too light. Kneeling down , he laid her on the roof and let her head rest on his knees.

"Raphael, look."

The turtle looked down below and understood;

Families.

Families leaving the theater across the street.

Feeling a twinge of sadness, Raphael watched two young parents holding their daughter's hands. They looked happy and carefree, on their way home after a pleasant movie. The little girl jumped, and her parents carried her in her jump. The little girl was saying; " Mommy, Daddy, Look ! I'm flying !" and they said; "yes baby you are ! look at you !"

Casey and Raphael looked at each other, then at Mona Lisa. Without a word, Casey knelt to her side and ran his finger through her hair.

"Let's go," he finally said.

* * *

_A few hours later in the living room…_

"What are you watching Raph?" Michelangelo jumped at his side on the sofa, " A series?"

"Yes."

"Something I know?"

"Yes, it's called 'get the fuck out of here' and the episode is 'the door's that way.'"

Mikey pouted.

"Fine, if you take it that way… I just wanted to tell you Mona is ok but since you're _sooooo_ busy." He got up, "I'll leave you to it."

"How is she ? "

" She woke up for few minutes before falling back to sleep. But it doesn't matter right ? Because she should just _leave_."

Mikey folded his arm and shot Raphael a look that said "_you know damn well what I'm talking about_." There was no point hiding it.

"So you know."

"Dude, everyone knows," he waited two seconds before adding, " What were you thinking ?"

"I didn't mean it that way!"

"You can tell her: she's now convinced that it's better for her to go. She spent the past three days blaming herself for what happened, and had you and Leo not hide in your rooms like babies, you would have noticed it too !"

" I didn't know…"

Leaving ? Was she seriously thinking about it ? _Oh Shell…_

Mikey sat back next to his brother.

" Just so you know, Don and I are angry against you two. And so is Splinter. And Casey. And April."

"…"

"Because while Leo and you hid in your rooms, we tried to keep Mona Lisa busy so she wouldn't dwell on it forever. Of course, it would have been _much_ easier if you had helped us…"

"I get it Mikey !"

"No I don't think you do: she's desperate. It's your fault, and she's paying for it, it's your fault, and we have to make up for your mistake."

" …"

What could he answer to that ?

"You, hum… came in saying Mona Lisa was feeling better ? So, how is she ?"

"_Are you sure you don't mind Michelangelo ?"_

"_Master Splinter, I'd be willing to watch over Mona Lisa in a hospital room for a __week__ if it could make her feel better. So watching over her for tonight is no problem."_

_The old rat had a low chuckle._

"_Thank you my son."_

_He knew he made a wise choice. His youngest may act like a child sometimes, but he was always the first one to watch over an ill sibling. Raphael and him had this same habit in fact. But…_

"_Sensei, could you tell me what happened ?"_

"So Master Splinter asked you to stand guard ?"

Mikey nodded.

"I slept in the extra futon we have, I just installed it next to her bed. Donny helped me. He said it's better someone stays in case she has pains."

_Pain ?_ "What do you mean ?"

"Don said it's because of her mutation, you see ? The nuclear water and mutation products she almost drowned in make their presence feel again sometimes. And if she doesn't rest enough, it can become really painful."

_I didn't know that. Now I understand why Don insisted so much on her medical care, "_ And ?"

"Nah, it was ok. She was just exhausted. She emerged around 6am, saw I was here, said hi, and went back to sleep. Since she was ok, I went back into my room." He leant back a bit, "When I asked her why she fainted, she said she broke."

"Broke ?"

" She said something in her broke."

The orange turtle switched his hand from folded on his plastron to folded behind his head and asked;

"So how are you gonna make up for it ?"

There was pure curiosity in his voice. Raphael shot Mikey a suspicious look.

"You're not angry anymore ? What happened to the whole see-what-you-did-you-freaking-jerk-how-could-you thing ?"

"First, I don't like to see everyone sad, and second, " he looked a bit embarrassed, "I love you all too damn much to stay mad too long. So I guess I'm already over it."

Mikey's too nice for his own good, Raphael thought. But deep down, he was grateful.

"Mona Lisa will eventually apologize to you because that's who she is but you, how are you gonna make up for it ?"

"I have no idea."

"You have no idea, Leo has no idea, that's it. We're screwed."

"You know I'm no good with words. Concessions and apologies are not my things at all."

"Dude, ever heard the expression '_acts speak louder than words ?'_ If you can't tell her you're sorry, show her. "

Raphael seemed to withdraw in his on shell to think. He didn't raise an eye when Mikey grabbed the remote control and switched.

"Mikey," he suddenly said, "if I had an idea, would you help me ?"

"Of course."

Raphael got up.

"You and Leo come in the lab at… let's say 8 pm. I'll ask April to set up a diversion to lure Mona Lisa away from the lair for the evening. I'll tell the details later, but first I have to talk to Don and Splinter."

Mikey watched his older brother leave the room and smiled. No need to tell him Master Splinter foresaw Raphael would go to him soon, and no need to tell him about what Splinter said either.

"_Sensei, could you tell me what happened ?"_

_Master Splinter had sighed, and slowly, almost reluctantly, repeated what Leonardo and Raphael told him._

"_She SLAPPED them ?"_

"_Apparently."_

"_Master Splinter we're talking about Leonardo and Raphael, THE Raphael. No one ever did this before. Not even you Sensei, no offence."_

" _None taken my son," the old rat slightly bent forward and said, "I would never tell this to your brothers, but I believe this incident Is a good thing."_

"_How so ?"_

_Splinter gave his son a mysterious smile before adding; "For Raphael to love, he needs resistance."_

* * *

"Everybody here ?"

"We were just waiting for you Casey, " Leonardo greeted him.

" Glad you could come Casey, want some popcorn ? I figured it will be a long night."

Casey took a handful of the popcorn Mikey was offering him and stuffed it in his mouth.

"I didn't want to miss the party (he swallowed) but Raph, are you serious when you say you're going to find her family ?"

"Yes, " he said without leaving the computer Don and him were working on, "Mona Lisa never returned home. I want to know why."

" Maybe because she grew a tail and scales ?" Mikey innocently asked.

"I don't think it's the sole reason, but there's a family out there whose daughter is missing, and a friend living here who's now an orphan. Call me cynical but I don't find it normal. "

For the first time since Casey arrived, Don and Raphael turned towards him.

"That's why Mona Lisa had to be gone for the evening. Where is she?"

Casey gave the brother a wicked smile.

"April kidnapped her for the night. She said something about bio cosmetics to create, horror movies to watch and tons of ice cream to eat, so we won't be found out."

The genius turtle, who was silent until then, waved for everyone to come forward.

" When Raphael told me about his idea, I began a research on Mona Lisa's disappearance. I already dug out some info."

Leonardo sat in a nearby chair.

"What kind?"

"Just the classic, basic information: date and place of birth, classes, college inscription and I discovered something funny," Donatello opened a page on the screen "According to the police files, Mona Lisa is declared deceased."

Raphael snorted.

"We don't have the same definition of 'funny' Don."

" No seriously; it takes a couple of years of disappearance before the authorities declare someone deceased. Normally, she should be just missing."

"How long has she been missing ?"

"She's been missing for a while. Look."

He clicked on a link. The homepage of a newspaper opened, and almost simultaneously, an article appeared;

**Disappearance at sea**

**Pleasant cruise turned to disaster today as three students were attacked by notorious Captain Filch during their boat trip. Two of the students, saved by coastguards, managed to escape the pirate by jumping overboard but do not know what became of their friend: 21 year old Mona Lisa, 5"2, long brown hair, brown eyes, last seen wearing a pink summer dress and a sport bag.**

**Authorities immediately triggered the alarm but there is still no sign of the missing girl despite the important were put in place. In order to prevent attacks, pleasure boats and cargo ships shall not leave the harbor until further notice, unless escorted by military boats.**

"This article dates back to two years ago. Mona Lisa's disappearance and Filch attacks made the front page for a month until the media lost its interest, since the investigation was going nowhere . I could have left my research here but that would mean leaving the job half-finished. And I, for one, hate to leave an unsolved task. And then I found this."

Donatello clicked, another newspaper page appeared on the screen:

**Body discovered**

**The body of Mona Lisa, 23, who disappeared two years ago was discovered this morning. The coastguards saw what they first thought to be a "_floating piece of wood_", which turned out to be a body attached on a broken rowboat. The body, disfigured by the elements, was yet officially identified by Maxwell Jonas, a close friend of the victim.**

**"_I still can't believe it's her_," A very devastated Maxwell told us, " _I kept hoping till the end we will find her. That she'll come back…until the end…"_**

**Mona Lisa and her friends were attacked by Captain Filch while enjoying a boat trip on a nice summer day. Sole prisoner of the pirate, it is believed the young girl was kept hostage for more than two years. The body will be repatriated to her hometown (Tampa) in a few days. Our thoughts go to her family and friends.**

The painful reality reached their minds before they finished reading the article.

"So technically…"

Donatello nodded.

"Mona Lisa is officially dead."

Raphael looked away.

"Shell… no wonder she never returned home."

" But she can't be dead ! She's with us."

"I know Mikey, that's what I was trying to figure out when you arrived. So I dug a little deeper and here's what I found out. "

Donatello pointed to something on the screen.

"I hacked into the police file and found her report. It says there was no autopsy. Look, pictures show the body's disfigured, but I guess since she was officially indentified they thought an autopsy was no use."

"Who identified her ?"

"Let me see…There !"

Leonardo leant forward.

" Maxwell Jonas, I don't have anything on him except ' _close_ _friend of the victim_.' "

"Dude, that's one accurate piece of information."

"It is Mikey. '_A very close friend of the victim'_ is often a euphemism to say that man was the victim's boyfriend," Donatello added when he saw his brother puzzled look.

"If there was no autopsy, there's no way this guy could have identified this girl as Mona Lisa. Why would he lie like this ?"

"I don't know Casey," genius turtle was forced to admit, "I don't understand either."

Casey scratched his black hair, bending his head on the side as a sign he was thinking. A little harder, and you would have seen smoke coming out of his ears.

"You said she's from Tampa?"

"Yes."

"That's in Florida, right?"

"Yes Casey, what's your point?"

"It just so happens that April and I will be there next week to visit her parents. You want me to check it out?"

* * *

Someone knocked on the door. The barman stopped cleaning the glass he hold and looked at the clock, curious: 8 am. The club closed less than an hour ago. Tired, he ignored the knock and he resumed his wash until the knock returned, louder this time.

"The club is closed," he shouted at whoever was at the door, "Come back later."

There was a loud crack: the man broke the door as easily as he would have cracked an egg. He was much taller than an ordinary man, with long blond hair and a dragon tattoo covered his broad shoulders and arm. His arms were as thick as legs and his legs as thick as trees, the ground shook under his steps.

The barman felt all his tired vanish and replaced by panic. His mouth suddenly dried and he started to sweat uncontrollably. Words stuttered on his lips as the giant man approached him.

"M…m..M. Hun, sir. I…I didn't expect you.." he swallowed,

"Got something to hide ?" Hun slowly asked, enjoying the terror in the man's eyes.

" N-no sir ! Of course not ! I-I-I paid my rent to the purple dragons in time…"

"Relax. I'm not here for the rent, " Hun saw the man relaxing a bit. Good. He wouldn't get what he came for if the man was too terrified to speak, "In fact," he resumed, "I might consider offering you the next two months rent if you answer me: Have you seen this girl ?"

The Barman's hand shook as he took the photo Hun handed him. It was unusual for the Purple Dragon Boss to look for someone himself. Was she an unfaithful mistress who ran away ? Did she owed him money and forgot to pay ? Bad idea.

He looked at the picture. Girls, he knew them. He saw hundreds of them every night, most of them he would chat and flirt with them and forget them the second they left. But this one…

"Oh, the lizard girl…she came here a couple of night ago during theme night with her boyfriend. I offered them a drink."

"Do you often offer drinks to your costumers ?"

"N-no sir, but I made an exception for those two: they had such beautiful costumes," he almost whined the last words when he saw Hun's eyes turn stone.

The purple dragon grabbed his photo and put it back in his coat.

"Keep your eyes open," he said on his way out, "and if you ever see them again, call me. If your information lead to her capture, your business will soar beyond your wildest dreams."

* * *

Hope you liked it!

R&R please ^^


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